Descent
by Feather Rain
Summary: A dark ritual in a cave, a nun buys a bowl and everyone eats a bit of cake. Just what is in store for our heroes? Read on and find out!
1. Descent into Darkness

**Chapter 1: Descent into Darkness**

A man paused as darkness enveloped him. He had stepped into a narrow tunnel, as wide as two people standing shoulder to shoulder. Its sides were carved from smooth stone, sloping gently downwards with no end in sight. The solid walls had blocked everything. The gentle ocean breeze was replaced by an eerie stillness, and the deep blue sky by the pitch-black ceiling. Permeating the air was a stale scent of something long dead and gone — it was as if he had entered a different world altogether.

Clack. Clack.

He continued forward, accompanied only by the sound of his slippers against the stony floor. When the light from the entrance disappeared in the distance and his eyes could no longer guide him, he reached out to the wall with his hand.

Then, far in the distance, a flickering speck of red-orange light appeared. It was so small and dim that one might have dismissed it as an illusion. But as he got closer, the speck of light steadied and grew, taking the shape of a symbol.

Carved into the wall of the tunnel, glowing defiantly against the black emptiness, was a single rune. And when the man reached it, the rune brightened, as if it had recognized his presence. It was the first of many.

In the beginning, they were few and far in between, but they became more and more numerous as he continued on. Their light illuminated the tunnel, basking it in an orange glow.

It was another minute before he saw the end of the tunnel. It opened into a large, hemispherical room with 5 robed figures standing within, whispering quietly to one another.

His footsteps announced his arrival, and the figures turned to greet him.

"So you came." A middle-aged female voice acknowledged him.

"We were starting to think you didn't have the guts to carry this through." Another voice, belonging to a younger man.

"Just in time," said yet another.

The man made no reply. Instead, he examined the room he had entered.

It was about 30 feet across. The floor was in the shape of a circle, and the walls curved towards the center of the room, where they met to make a domed ceiling — it was a perfect hemisphere.

Every surface he could see was covered from top to bottom in runes. The runes formed long chains, like twisting vines, curving every which way, crisscrossing, coming together and splitting apart. The floor was completely flat and polished to a shine, with a number of thin, dark lines were etched into the stony surface. The lines formed a large pentagram, with two larger concentric circles around it. Carved in the empty spaces between the lines were even more runes.

The man nodded in satisfaction. He checked his watch, "7 minutes left. We can start."

The others nodded and spread out onto the diagram, with one person at each point of the pentagram, leaving the man alone at the entrance. For a moment, they all stood in silence. Then they began to chant.

It was a steady sound, yet filled with anticipation. At first, they chanted in unison, but then, one by one, their voices broke off from the collective, finding their own rhythm. As they did so, their voices grew louder and harsher. The stone ceiling echoed them, multiplying their voices. One voice became five, then ten, and soon it was a cacophony of hundreds.

The runes changed their color, yellow, then blue, then a brilliant white. Wind came and encircled them. The ground began trembling beneath them.

The man, who had been standing outside of the circle watching, took another look at his watch.

"Two minutes!" the man announced.

In response, the chanters quickened their pace, and the chaos grew. The shaking grew violent, their robes flapped in the wind, and the noise was almost deafening.

"One minute!"

This time chanters gave no indication they had heard. But the man seems unconcerned. Instead, he walked to the center of the room.

30 seconds left. He looked down at his watch, counting down the seconds, waiting patiently for the moment to arrive.

10 seconds. The room was now brighter than day, and the wind grew into a vicious cyclone, picking up loose gravel and flinging them across the room. The ground shook so violently that cracks formed in the dome. A few pieces of the ceiling broke off and fell, narrowly missing the ones standing below.

4 seconds. The man steadied himself.

3... He took out a dagger from underneath his robes,

2... gripped it with both hands,

1... held it high above him,

... and plunged it into himself.

And then it all vanished - the brilliant light, the deafening noise, the violent shaking, and the whirling winds, leaving the room in complete darkness and silence.

* * *

Seven thousand miles away, in a country called Japan, a young girl woke with a start. She had a very strange dream, one filled with a sense of foreboding. If she didn't know any better, she'd say it was a prophecy, and a very important one at that. But that's impossible, prophecies only come to people who can use magic. Though she might have more magical knowledge than any other person alive, she cannot use any of it.

And then her stomach growled - a rumbling reminder that she was hungry. She had a tiny dinner last night thanks to her penny-pinching roommate, and he is about to pay dearly for it. As the girl contemplated how she should inflict pain and suffering upon her unsuspecting roommate, her strange dream was quickly forgotten.

* * *

**Author's Corner**

**Touma:** I have a very bad feeling about what's going to happen.  
**Author:** Oh don't worry about that, I don't like killing people that much.  
**Touma:** *Looks at Index* I have a bad feeling about her too.  
**Index:** Oh don't worry about that, it's just your survival instinct.  
**Touma:** Shouldn't I listen to that? Wait, why are you bearing your teeth at me?  
**Index:** I'm a bit hungry that's all.  
**Touma:** What does that have to do with me? And why are you licking your lips? You're making me very worried.  
**Index:** *Approaches slowly*  
**Touma:** Uh... uh... a bit of help here?  
**Author:** *Hands him a whole cake* Here, use this.  
**Touma:** Ah thanks! *Turns to Index* O great one, calm thyself, for you shall hunger no longer. I, your humble servant, present to you this marvelous cake.  
**Index:** Oooohhhh... *Nom nom nom*  
**Touma:** Did that work?  
**Author:** It's super effective.  
**Index:** *Finishes the cake* I'll let you off this time. But don't make me eat cup ramen for dinner ever again. Understood?  
**Touma:** Sir! Yes sir!


	2. Descent into Comedy

**Chapter 2: Descent into Comedy**

* * *

DISCLAIMER:

THIS STORY IS A WORK OF FICTION — ALL CHARACTERS, LOCATIONS, EVENTS AND IDEAS PRESENTED IN THIS STORY ARE FICTITIOUS. ANY RESEMBLANCE TO PERSONS, PLACES, EVENTS OR IDEAS, REAL OR FICTIONAL, IS ENTIRELY COINCIDENTAL, AND EXISTS SOLELY AS A HALLUCINATION WITHIN THE MIND OF THE READER.

* * *

In the women's dormitory of the Necessarius branch of the Church of England, Agnese Sanctis, the leader of two hundred and fifty battle nuns, stood dumbfounded at the sight in front of her. The laundry room was completely flooded in a foot and half of water. Clothing and laundry baskets floated about room like driftwood. Two nuns were hunched over the doorway, fumbling about a wooden board, trying to hold back the rising water.

"Again? Just what were you thinking?" She yelled.

It shouldn't surprising, really, the washing machine from Academy City had a million options. By now, she's convinced that at least half of those were "flood the room".

"Sorry," said one of her subordinates, "I swear it was an accident. All we did was press some buttons on the machine. We didn't know it was going to..."

Agnese let out a sigh. As much as she wanted to scream at them, these girls weren't just fooling around — they were on laundry duty. It's a daunting task given the amount of dirty clothing a building full of people generates.

"Alright, forget how it happened, right now let's figure out how to fix..."

That was when Agnese noticed something was off about that board they were using. First, it's entirely too small to block the doorway. And second, the edges seems to have rotted away, and there's several holes in it. It was really old and falling apart, just like a certain priceless artifact that they recovered from the mountains of Turkey last month.

"Wait a minute, isn't that..."

"A piece of the Ark of the Covenant?" Orsola Aquinas, the resident magic researcher, stepped in behind Agnese. "How clever. To have held back the Great Flood for over 200 days, a mere laundry room full of water..."

Orsola cut her explanation short as she noticed a dark aura emanating from Agnese.

"YOU TWO!" The redhead was livid.

"Eeep!"

"Explain!"

"T-t-that..." the girl tried to explain, but lost her voice under the deathly glare of her superior.

Agnese then turned to the other girl. "What you are doing with a priceless artifact?!"

The girl blanched. Her voice failed her, and whole body shook as if she was a mouse about to be fed to a hungry viper.

"I'm waiting." Agnese crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently on the floor. She stared down the two unfortunate girls, sending waves upon waves of raw terror.

Orsolas tried to intervene. "Um... Agnese?"

"..."

"Agnese?"

"..."

Then Orsolas noticed something rather concerning.

"Agnese! The water is overflowing."

Agnese stole a glance at the overflowing room. A look of pain crossed her face as she considered whether she should keep up the punshing glare or fix the rapidly worsening situation.

"Humph. I'll decide your punishments later. You! Go to the power breaker upstairs and turn off power to this room. And you, hold the Ark in place until we drain the water."

"Yes!" "Right away!"

By then, many more inhabitants of the dorm had gathered around the commotion, and they were all immediately drafted into helping. Agnese gave out orders left and right, shutting down the water to the building and recovering the clothing still in the room. Frequent practice had made the process routine, and in no time, the water was drained and order was restored.

Agnese was just about to leave when Orsola stopped her. "Ms. Stuart is looking for you. She said it was something important."

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"If you're going to tell me to go to school again, you can forget about it." Agnese confronted Laura Stewart, Archbishop of the Church of England, trying to look as resolute as possible. They've already tried to enroll her twice already, and it's getting annoying.

"That's not why I called you, but since you brought it up, here's two more prospective schools you should consider," Laura picked up a piece of paper on her desk, "Saint Clarissa's, operated by the us, the Church of England, and Pine Wood Primary School. Both have excellent..."

"I'm not going to primary school!" Agnese yelled. She's the leader of 250 battle nuns and an important member of Necessarius! "Besides, I'm 15 already, what would I look like sitting in a classroom with a bunch of kids?"

"Ara ara... but you are so small, I think you'd fit right in." Laura said with a smile.

Agnese clenched her fists and felt blood rising to her face.

"But seriously," the archbishop continued, "given your academic background, you'd have a very hard time keeping up if we sent you straight to high school."

As much as she'd hate to admit it, Laura had a point. Ever since she became the leader of her own fighting force, she had spent all of her time training or fighting. What little time she had left was spent in Bible studies. There just wasn't time for anything else.

_But still, it would make me look like an idiot. Stiyl would laugh his head off if he found out._

"In any case, please think seriously about this."

"You said you wanted me for something else?" Agnese prompted, wanting to get away from this topic as soon as possible.

"Yes, here," Laura handed her a photo of a corner of a dark and dusty storage room. It showed an ellipsoid object, mostly dark brown in color. There were patterns drawn on its side as well as inscriptions in a foreign language. It was hard to make out due to the poor contrast, but there seems to be a large depression in the middle of it.

"A bowl?"

"Yes. This is the Bowl of Plenty, last seen in Romania in 1821. It's also known by its Latin name, Pateracopia. Many believe the bowl is a very powerful magical artifact. It's said to bring prosperity to its owner."

"What does it do exactly?"

"No one is quite sure. Of the four known owners of the bowl, two were poor merchants, who, in less than a year of owning the bowl, earned enough money to buy titles of nobility. The third owner was a monk. He convinced a wealthy Marquis to donate his entire fortune to the church. No one knew how he managed that. Many bishops who tried before him had all failed. The Church promoted him to the position of bishop after just three months."

"Then the bowl makes its owner rich?"

_If it really had that kind of power, it would be an incredibly valuable artifact,_ Agnese thought.

"That's one theory. The other is some form of mind control. The merchants could have manipulated their trading partners to give them better deals. It wouldn't have been long before they were as wealthy as kings. Either way, word got out that the bowl is quite valuable.

That brings us to the last owner. He was a thief by trade. After hearing about this marvelous treasure, he snuck into the church and stole it. He quickly sold the bowl and made a small fortune. But unfortunately for him, he was captured just a few days later. The police tried to track down the buyer, but they never found him. So the bowl disappeared from history."

"But that was in the 1800's right? Where did this photo come from?"

"Ara, you are quite sharp for a primary school student. The artifact was all but lost and forgotten — until now. This photo was taken last week in Brazil. We're sending you there to retrieve it."

_You didn't have to sneak an insult in there._

She was just about to say something when she heard the door open behind her. It was Stiyl, dressed in his usual black robe, a cigarette in his mouth and a small cardboard package in his hand. At well over 6 feet, it's hard to believe the teenager towering over her is only a year older.

"Ah! Perfect timing. I was just explaining the mission to Agnese here."

"Whatever. Where do I leave this?"

"It's for Agnese."

Stiyl unceremoniously handed the package to her. It was only about 6 inches on each side, but very heavy. There's probably something metallic inside.

"Stiyl, need I remind you?" Laura chided, "smoking within this building is strictly forbidden. Please get rid of it."

"Tsk." Stiyl made an irritated noise, but made no move to throw away the cigarette.

Laura narrowed her eyes in response. But Stiyl completely ignored it. Instead, he took a drag and let out a huge cloud of smoke. In the sudden silence, Agnese could almost hear the tension building.

What came next was one of the most intense battle of wills she had ever witnessed.

Laura Stewart was clad in the imposing air of an Archbishop. Almost casually, she crossed her hands neatly over the desk and revealed a slight smile. But the smile helt so little warmth that it made Agnese shiver. And beneath her lightly knit brows, a pair of blue eye sent icy daggers flying with practiced ease.

Stiyl, on the other hand, exhumed an aura of delinquency. His multiple piercings, barcode tattoo, rings, and the aforementioned cigarette all loudly proclaimed his distaste for rules. Unlike the Archbishop, however, his wore his displeasure in plain sight. His hands were rolled fists, his jaws were clenched tight, and in his eyes burned an inferno, as bright as Innocentis. It was a look of someone who was ready to fight to the death. Perhaps the years of teasing and abuse at the hands of his superior had finally broken him, and now all he could do was seek vengence.

In a contest between priest and archbishop, one would think the winner would be obvious. But it didn't seem like that at all. Stiyl, backed by his burning aura, firmly stood his ground against the icy waves emitted by the Archbishop. For a moment, the forces held in balance, and neither side seems to have an advantage.

But then Stiyl took a step forward. Suddenly, his fire was pushing back the cold, dispersing it, overwhelming it, threatening to engulf the entire room.

Not to be outdone, Laura calmly stood up. Like water from an overturned bucket, the cold came pouring out of her, snuffing out the fire and pushing it back. So once again, the room returned to equlibrium.

Meanwhile, Agnese was caught helpless between the two monsters. "Um..." she tried to think of something to say that could calm them down. If she let this go on, these two will surely end up destroying the whole building. _And I just fixed the laundry room!_

It was at that moment of impasse that Stiyl suddenly smiled. A genuine smile, not the icy one which still adorned Laura's face. With that simple act, he instantly dispelled all the violent atomsphere in the room. The change was so abrupt that the Archbishop was taken back by surprise. Her piercing glare gave way to look of confusion.

Stiyl took the cigarette from his mouth, and with a flick of his wrist, incinerated it with fire. "There," he said, gesturing to the cloud of smoke that was once his cigarette.

_Wait a minute, you made the room as smokey as if you had just finished it! What's the point of that?_

And then Agnese noticed the smile on Stiyl's face had transformed into a smirk. _This is exactly what he had intended!_ As strong as he was, he was still the subordinate, and he can't fight the rules head-on. So he chose to obey them in the most subversive manner imaginable. As long as the cigarette was no longer lit, he was untouchable!

Agnese turned to the Archbishop to see what her reaction is. No doubt she had noticed his ploy. But to her surprise, Laura merely thanked him and sat back down.

"Now as I was saying, Agnese, the artifact is incredibly valuable, so it would be best if it came into our possession. The local Catholic chapters are also looking for it, but right now we have the upper hand. The man who sent us the photo also claims to know its current whereabouts. Your mission will be to get in contact with him, find the artifact, and bring it back."

"Should I bring the battalion with me?" Agnese asked, referring to her battle nun army.

"No need. We hope to accomplish this without causing any major incidents. Brazil is Roman Catholic territory after all."

"Is this is a covert mission then?"

"More or less. Even if they knew you were there, they don't know we're after the bowl. They can't come after every magician that crosses their borders. Try not to attract too much attention and you should be fine."

"And this package?"

"That contains everything you'll need for this mission. And here in this envelope is your detailed instructions. You will leave for Brazil tonight at 7 p.m."

"Understood." Agnese took the envelope from her. This leaves her with just a few hours to prepare. "Is there anything else you need me for?"

"No, that'll be all. Thank you."

With that, Agnese left the room. Stiyl, who has been standing in the corner listening in, also tried to leave. But it looks like his earlier subversion is about to come back and bite him in the ass.

"Oh Stiyl~ I still have something to discuss with you~" Laura called out in a melodic voice.

_This is going to turn turn ugly,_ Agnese thought as she made her escape.

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Agnese was halfway to her room when she heard a shout behind her.

"Agnese! Agnese!"

She turned around to see a short girl in braids running towards her, followed by a much taller girl. "Angelene? And Lucia?"

"Today is Fiona's birthday and we bought cake!" Angelene was jumping up and down in excitement.

"Triple chocolate mousse, I think is what it's called," Lucia added. Though she appears much more composed than Angelene, Agnese could tell she's eager to have a bite. It's a rare sight to behold for the normally stern Lucia.

"Ohoho... I see it's got you under its spell too?" Agnese could not resist teasing her a bit.

"No, not really," she denied rather awkwardly, "it's just that this cake is from one of the best confectionaries in the area."

"That's right! We should go right now!" Angelene grabbed Agnese's hand. But just as she was about to take off, Lucia gave her a hard chop to the head.

"Owww~"

"The cake is for after dinner. You can't eat it now."

"Lucia's right, you should at least sing Fiona's birthday song for her first, then we can all enjoy the cake," Agnese added. Then she remembered the task she was just given, "actually, you two enjoy it. I... have a mission."

"You are going away?" asked Angelene, her previous excitement replaced by a frown.

"Yes, I'm going to Brazil," Agnese answered, "the Archbishop just briefed me on it."

"Should I get the troops ready then?" asked Lucia, slightly concerned.

"No, this is a covert mission, I'll be going alone. I'm putting you in charge while I am gone."

"I see. Then please be careful."

"Thanks, I will," Agnese replied. Then turning to Angelene, she added with a smile, "don't worry, it's a short mission, just a few days at most. I'll be back before you know it."

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise. Be a good girl and listen to Lucia."

Waving goodbye to her two best friends, Agnese turned around and went back to her room to pack.

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It turns out that the weight of the package came from a heavy sack of antique gold coins. There were several hundred inside. Besides their intrinsic gold value, they were probably also antiques. The rest of the package was filled with miscellaneous items. There was an airplane ticket from London to Florianopolis, a big roll of Brazilian currency, a copy of the photo Laura showed her and several magical tokens.

As Agnese read through the instructions, she suddenly remembered something very important. _What should I wear?_ She looked down at her habit. _This will stand out too much in a crowd._ She opened her wardrobe, and to her dismay, found only more robes. Most of her personal belongings were still back in Italy with the Roman Catholic Church.

"Looks like I'll need to go shopping... I wonder what's the weather like there?"

* * *

"That'll be 450 yen."

"450?"

Touma stood dumbfounded in a convinence store checkout line. Today he had to buy 2 things, a can of cat food for Sphinx, and a bag of rice for Index and himself. It's almost time for his monthly stipend, which also means he is almost out of money. In fact, all he has is the 400 yen in his pocket right now.

A wise man once said, the most difficult choice a person will ever face is the choice between his freeloading roommate and her cat. Leave the cat food, and Index will be angry at him. But leaving the rice means Index would be angry _and_ hungry. What would she do to him in that state? He shuddered at the thought.

"Such misfortune!"

The cashier behind the counter gave him with a suspicious look.

"Ahem. That'll be 450 yen," she said.

"Um... How should I say this? Can I get a discount?"

"Huh?"

"A discount. I only have 400 yen on me."

That earned him a disapproving frown from the cashier.

"Then leave something," she said a matter-of-factly, "and please be quick. There are other customers waiting in line behind you."

_I knew that wouldn't work. But maybe one of those customers could help? It's only 50 yen after all._ Touma turned around to the person standing behind him.

But instead of a normal person like he had expected, he came face to face with a great wall of muscle and sinew, twice as wide as him and a full 3 heads taller, wrapped in a tight-fitting t-shirt and jeans. It was glaring at him in annoyance.

_On second thought, let's not ask him._ Touma timidly turned around to contemplate his doom. _Now what will it be? Cat food or rice?_

A ring sounded the shop's door, interrupting his thoughts. A familiar-looking female customer entered the store.

"Biri-biri?"

"You!" She pointed rudely at him. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I'm shopping."

"That's not what I mean. Did you see how many times I texted you? And you didn't give me a single reply!"

"Um... Now's not the best time for this..." Touma held out his hand in a calming gesture.

"Not the best-" Misaka Mikoto, the third highest ranked level 5, Ace of Tokiwadai and, most importantly, an ojou-sama with an image to maintain, suddenly remembered where she was. Her short outburst had already attracted the attention of the whole store. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

"Fine, let's talk after we're done shopping. And don't you dare run away."

"Alright. Alright."

"By the way, why do those people behind you look so angry?"

"Ah haha." Touma let out a weak laugh. "You see, I'm in a bit of a tough spot."

"Oh?" She crossed her arms, waiting to hear whatever silly story he has made up. But she did not expect what happened next, because Touma suddenly fell to his knees and yelled as loud as he could.

"I would be extremely grateful if you could please grant me 50 yen!"

"Eh? What?"

"Please!" Touma bowed down as far as he could, his head almost touching the ground. "Lend me some money!"

"D-Did you say 50 yen? Are you serious?"

"Yes. I'll do anything!"

"Anything at all?"

"Yes! Please!"

"Oh-ho. I see. I see." An evil grin appeared on the girl's face. She's no doubt imagining all sorts of painful and humiliating things for him to do.

Looking at the demonic expression she sported, Touma suddenly felt a sense of regret. _Maybe asking her was a bad idea?_

"Hello? Earth to Biri-biri?"

"Ah." She snapped out of her fantasy. "Right. Here you go." She handed him a 1000-yen bill. "That's the smallest change I have."

"Thank you very much!"

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The two walked out of the store with their quarry in hand.

"What did you get?" Touma asked.

"Just chapstick," Mikoto replied.

"Really? That's surprising."

"Why is that surprising?"

_Wait, could it be?_ She stopped in her steps. "You're thinking that's an uncharacteristicly girly thing for me to buy, aren't you?"

"No. Nevermind, forget it." Touma explained in a exasperated tone.

"You really ought to be more grateful to the person who just lent you money."

"Sorry, my bad. And I'll pay you back, I promise." He resumed walking. "Thank you again."

"Ah don't mention it." Mikoto replied out of habit. "No! That's not it! Don't you think it's about time you told me what's going on?"

She's had it with being kept in the dark. It's not like she was just an innocent middle-schooler. She faced the dark side of Academy City many times, and she can handle whatever truth he's been hiding.

"Who were those uniformed people? Why were they after you? What were those glowing whip-like things in the sky? And was it really an ang-"

Touma reached over and put his hand over her mouth.

"We... shouldn't talk about that here," he leaned in and said in a serious voice.

As she felt his hand against her lips and his warm breath across her ears, her heart skipped a beat and blood rushed to her face.

"You're too close!" She hastily pushed him away.

"Sorry."

She looked at him awkwardly. Their brief contact had wiped all of her questions from her mind. Instead, they were replaced by something far more important. But Mikoto struggled to put what she wanted into words.

"Actually, there's something I want to tell you," she said, figeting.

_Just say it. 'I like you, so go on a date with me.' It's a simple sentence._

"I-I l-li-li-ke you." She managed to stutter out the words. But unfortunately, she was about as loud as a mosquito.

"What's that, Biri-biri?"

_What are you making me say twice you idiot!_

"I l-li-like-" she began her struggle anew. _It's now or nothing!_

"You like?"

"I LIKE YOU TO STOP CALLING ME BIRI-BIRI!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Okay, okay! You don't need to get angry over that."

_Somebody kill me now._ Mikoto mentally facepalmed. _You just wasted your chance to tell him! At this rate he'll never be yours._ A cloud of gloom descended upon her.

"So, what do you want me to call you?"

"Huh?"

"Is 'Misaka-san' alright?" Touma prompted.

"Misaka-san?"

_Wait, maybe this situation is salvageable?_ The cloud of gloom around her disappeared as quickly as it came. _If I can get him to call me by my first name..._ A mischevious grin crept onto her face.

"Well, 'Misaka-san' is fine I guess, but..."

"But?"

"That sounds like we barely know each other. We've been through a lot together you know," she said a matter-of-factly.

"Um... So 'Mikoto-san'?" He offered, this time using her first name.

"Too long."

"T-Too long? It's only 4 syllables." Touma scratched the back of his head.

"Mi-chan?"

"Do I look like I'm in kindergarten?!" She fired back against the overly cute and childish way he called her. _Well, actually, I wouldn't really mind if he really did that..._ But that's far too embarassing to admit out loud!

"Just 'Mikoto' then?"

Mikoto nodded in satisfaction.

"Isn't that too close?" Touma asked, "it sounds like we're dating."

"D-dating?" She couldn't help but blush at his remark. "Stop thinking such creepy thoughts! We're just friends. Friends!"

"Okay, okay, Mikoto. You should call me Touma then."

"O-okay. Tou-"

"Touma!" Another voice interrupted her practice run. She looked up and saw a silver-haired girl dressed in a white nun's habit.

"Index?" Asked Touma.

"Touma! You said you were going to buy food. I waited patiently for you at home, but here you are, flirting with short hair!"

"We're not flirting!" Both of them vehemently denied the accusation.

"'Mikoto~ Call me Touma~' Isn't that what you said?" Index gave an all-too-romantic-sounding impression.

Actually, Mikoto would be all too happy if that was the case, but...

"That's not what I sounded like," Touma denied. "Besides, why do you care who I flirt with?"

"Why do I care?" Index seemed taken back. "Touma. I'm going to get angry."

"Yeah, yeah." Touma dismissed her with a wave and walked away.

"Grrrr... Touma!" The nun chased after him.

"See you later, Mikoto." He called out.

"Ah, see you later," she replied.

_Hey wait a minute! I was going the same way, why did we say goodbye?_

But now that she's said it, she couldn't just keep walking after them. _Ah... Might as well check out the shops around here. You never know where Gekota could be hiding..._

* * *

**Author's Corner**

**Agnese:** Is 450 yen a lot of money?  
**Mikoto:** No, not really. It's about $4.5, or 2.5 pounds.  
**Agnese:** I'm jealous. 50 yen for anything from Touma?  
**Mikoto:** Ah-haha...  
**Touma:** I'm going to regret that aren't I? By the way, Author, what's up with this corner anyways?  
**Author:** It's just a place for us to talk about stuff.  
**Touma:** Stuff?  
**Author:** You know how some authors have a section to answer their reader's questions? I thought this is a more fun way to do it.  
**Touma:** I see. Speaking of fun, isn't this chapter's too light-hearted?  
**Author:** Is there such a thing? But I guess the atmosphere is quite different from the prologue.  
**Agnese:** That's right! It's almost like a romantic comedy.  
**Mikoto:** *Eyes the author* So?  
**Author:** So?  
**Mikoto:** *Leans in* You know.  
**Author:** Uh... no I don't?  
**Mikoto:** Romance?  
**Author:** W-what about it?  
**Mikoto:** Jeez. I'm asking if I have a chance with Touma!  
**Author:** Oh. That. Uh... Hey look! My bus is here. *Runs away*  
**Mikoto:** Huh? Wait! Come back~  
**Touma:** ...  
**Agnese:** ...  
**Touma:** See you next time?


	3. Descent into Florianopolis

**Chapter 3: Descent into Florianopolis**

* * *

DISCLAIMER:

THE STORY IS DISTRIBUTED IN THE HOPE THAT IT WILL BE ENTERTAINING. IT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF READABILITY AND FITNESS FOR ANY ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSE. SHOULD THE STORY PROVE UNINTERESTING, THE READER SHALL ASSUME THE COST OF ALL LOST TIME.

* * *

Agnese was in a grumpy mood when she finally arrived in the costal city of Florianopolis. The 16-hour flight took a lot out of her, not to mention the "hour-and-half" layover in San Paulo that was actually 3 hours long. The noisy cabin made it hard to sleep, and her neighbor, who was far too large for his seat, kept wanting to step over her to reach the bathroom.

If only she could make it all go away.

_Why didn't they have convenient magic like that? Maybe she should've asked the Amakusa to set up some sort of portal._

But those thoughts were wiped away when she stepped out onto the street. She was greeted by the bright mid-morning sun and a comfortable ocean breeze. It was neither too cold, nor too warm.

It's Spring in Brazil, and she dressed accordingly. Gone is her nun's outfit, and in its place, a pink, tight-fitting t-shirt, a pair of denim short shorts, and flip flops under her feet. A tote bag hung over her shoulder, and from it, she took out a pair of stylish sunglasses. To the people walking by her, she was the splitting image of a tourist.

Agnese waved down a taxi and got in. The ride was quite long — her destination was on the other side of the city. On the way, they crossed a tall bridge that afforded her a good view of the entire area.

Florianopolis is a small city on the Atlantic seaboard. Half of the city sits on a rather large island, and the other half on the continent. Where the two landmasses are at their closest, the city dwellers had built several bridges connecting them.

Tourism is the main industry here. The beaches and nightclubs attract hordes of tourists every summer. There is also a budding tech sector in the city that keeps it afloat in the off season, and a small fishing industry that had been here since the beginning of time. Most of the city is rather affluent, but there's also a few poor neighborhoods here and there.

They passed by a number of churches on their way. Even more are visible in the distance. All in all, there's probably 50 or more churches in the entire city. This being Brazil, most of those would be Catholic.

_Deep in enemy territory huh?_ It wouldn't be the first time she was in such a position. But this is the first time she had no backup at all, not her band of sisters, nobody from Necessarius, no friendly churches nearby, not even that spiky-haired boy she met in Japan.

_Wait, where did he come from? He has nothing to do with this! Just because he saved you once, and saw you naked, and even held you in your sleep..._ Her face turned red as she remembered the night they met.

"Gah!" She clutched her hair, trying to wipe that memory from her mind.

And then she realized she's not exactly alone. She put herself back into a proper sitting position and carefully stole a few glances at the driver. Thankfully, he didn't seem to have noticed her outburst.

_Okay,_ she thought as she took a deep breath, _stop thinking about him. You already offered your body and soul to God, didn't you? You can't just go around giving it to others now. Besides, he punched you in the face! I mean, I was wrong, but he still shouldn't have hit so hard! He doesn't like you at all, so you can just stop thinking about him already!_

But despite her best efforts, Agnese was still thinking about her encounters with the boy when they arrived at their destination.

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

Fifty three reais, or about £13.50. The same trip in the UK would probably be £70 or more. She handed the driver the money from her bag and stepped outside.

She had arrived in an area that's only slightly better than a slum. Where normal houses have windows, these houses had square holes in the wall. Doors too, were just tall rectangular holes. A stench hung in the air, emanating from an overflowing sewer nearby. Pools of muddy water filled potholes in the road, and trash littered the sidewalk. Despite the terrible conditions, however, she could see small children laughing and playing on the rusted hulk of an abandoned truck.

When she reached her contact's apartment two blocks away, she was greeted with a surprisingly normal-looking two-story building with real windows and a real door. Though it looked a bit worn, with some cracks in the walls and paint missing from the door, it was still a bit out of place here.

She knocked on the door.

"..."

She tried again.

"..."

This is the place, isn't it? She double checked the piece of paper with the address on it.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

"..."

Agnese reached towards the door handle and slowly turned it. Click, came the sound of the sliding bolt. The door was unlocked. _But wouldn't it be bad if he found me in his room uninvited? Maybe I should just wait outside._

As she hesitated about what to do, the weight of her hand had already opened the door for her. The entrance led to a kitchen where a woman was washing dishes. But she took no notice of Agnese.

_Was she a servant he hired? I didn't hear about anyone else living here._ She stowed away her sunglasses and called out.

"Um, hello?"

_Was she too quiet?_

"Hello!"

"Que?" the woman replied loudly without turning around.

"I'm looking for Mr. Kasin," Agnese said, recalling the man's alias, "does he live here?"

That seems to have gotten her attention. She shut off the faucet and turned around to face her, taking a few seconds to look over Agnese. "Kasin? You mean the rat?" she asked in a heavy accent.

_Rat? Did they get in a fight? Still, calling your master a rat..._

"I-I guess so?"

"There," the woman pointed to a door at the far side of the kitchen before turning back to her work. Seeing she was being ignored again, Agnese walked to the door and muttering a "thanks" under her breath.

Upstairs, there's another door, this one half ajar and revealing a dimly lit room. It was filled with bottles, bowls, vases, books, and various knickknacks. The stuff hung from on the walls, stacked on the bookshelves, piled on the table and scattered across floor. All of it covered in a thick layer of dust.

The only empty space was a path leading from the doorway to the middle of the room, where a three-person couch stood. Upon it lay the prone form of a sleeping man. He sported a stained t-shirt, loose jeans, socks with holes in them, and a wide-brimmed hat covering half of his face. Beneath that, all she could see was a ragged black beard and a bit of light brown skin. One of his hands hung off the side of the couch, stretching towards a half-empty bottle of liquor.

_I see why he's called the rat._ The sight was almost too much for Agnese, who was raised with the Christian virtues of diligence, temperance and, well, cleanliness. That flood-prone washing machine would be quite handy here, or maybe she should just throw everything out the window, him included. But she held back that urge and called out to him instead.

"Mr. Kasin?" The name was almost certainly an alias.

"Mmmguh," came an incoherent response.

"Mr. Kasin, I'm here for business."

"Mmph Kasin... Business..."

"Yes business, now please wake up."

"Business..." the man made an effort to get up, but only succeeded in tipping the hat off of his face.

Agnese contemplated whether she should really go get a bucket of water from downstairs.

"Hey!"

"Mhmgh... tomorrow."

"What?"

"Do it tomorrow."

"What do you mean tomorrow? We had an appointment!"

"Not my problem. Now go away."

"I see... so that's how you want to do it." A thin smile appeared on Agnese's lips.

She had been feeling stressed ever since she left London. Beating up this idiot will surely relieve some of that. She pulled out her Lotus Wand and muttered the incantation to activate it.

"Say your prayers! FIDELIS 130!" Agnese pointed the wand at him and yelled her sorcery name.

"Gyaaah!"

But before Agnese could even release her magic, the man flipped off the couch like a trained martial artist. He landed on the floor with a thud, scattering the bottles and bowls laid there. Then using the momentum of the fall, he rolled to his feet and made a mad dash for the back of the couch.

But luck was not on his side. As he launched himself towards the space between the couch and the bookshelf, he stepped on a fallen bottle, lost his balance, and slammed straight into the bookshelf, which promptly tipped over and proceeded to dump all of its contents on his head. Thankfully, the couch stopped the bookshelf's fall, and he was spared being crushed to death.

Agnese watched the carnage from the doorway, her mouth half open and the wand still in her hand. Something flipped inside her, and all of her anger vanished in an instant.

"Pfffft..."

The man tried to dig his way out of the pile of fallen debris. But just as he tried to stand up, he banged his head on the bookshelf and fell right back down.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha—!"

"Ugh..."

"HAHAHAHAHA—!"

Agnese clutched her stomach in pain. This was too much. She imagined her contact was a shady person, a bit mysterious perhaps. Someone who could work as a spy, or at least a thief. Not... _this_.

"Ha... ha ha..."

"You know," the man spoke up, having extricated himself from the debris, "you really shouldn't scare people like that. It almost gave me a heart attack."

"Ah haha... Sorry, I just wanted to wake you up. I wasn't really going to kill you."

"Well that's reassuring," the man said sarcastically as he dusted himself off. "The last time a magician yelled their sorcery name at me he blew up a whole shopping mall."

"I guess I was just a bit tired from my flight." Agnese explained. She took a step forward and reached out with her right hand. "Agnese Sanctis, member of Necessarius. I already gave away my sorcery name after all."

"Kasin Reese." He took her hand and shook it. "At least, that's me for the next three months."

"What happens after that?"

"Who knows?" Kasin replied with a shrug. "But now that I'm awake, what can I do for you?"

"I'm here for item number 17. I'm sure someone from my side has already contacted you about it. They say you have clues as to its whereabouts."

"Item 17? Ah yes, that bowl. I thought you people might want it, so I saved you the trouble of tracking it down."

_Yes!_ Agnese couldn't believe her luck. _This means I don't have to go find it._

"It's here somewhere," Kasin scratched the back of his head and turned around to the big pile of books, broken glass and ceramics on the floor.

"..."

A moment of silence passed between them.

"Uh..."

"Wait- Don't tell me it's in there?!" Agnese felt her blood run cold.

_If the Archbishop discovered I broke a priceless artifact..._

"Oh! I remember, it's in the back, over by that shelf."

"Jeez. Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry. Sorry."

Agnese let out a sigh. "By the way, you should really clean up the place. Even the woman downstairs called you a rat."

"How kind of her. She usually calls me something much worse." He said as he slowly treaded towards the back of the room, careful not to break anything else.

"She's not your servant?"

"Servant? Lord, no. I'm just renting a room."

_That explains it,_ she thought as Kasin returned with the precious item.

"So, about the price..."

"Why don't we talk this over some coffee?" he said with a smile.

* * *

_Some mission this turned out to be._

Stiyl Magnus tapped his foot impatiently against the cockpit floor. He didn't really expect anything good after he faced off against the archbishop, but this isn't the punishment he had expected. Laura only told him to go to the Falklands, then get on a seaplane. So he had been flying ever since.

Not that it bothered him. Or rather, his pride wouldn't let him. No matter what, he's not going to give Laura the satisfaction of knowing she had succeeded in annoying him.

Instead, he stared out at the deep blue ocean and the lighter, but still blue sky. Somewhere in the distance where the colors meet, there's a horizon, but it's mostly a gradient to him. There's not a cloud in the sky — everywhere he looked, he could see nothing but ocean. He couldn't even tell how fast they were going.

Unlike Agnese, he slept through most of his flight to the Falklands, but that also means he's now perfectly awake, and couldn't fall asleep even if he tried. Bored out of his mind, he turned to the only source of entertainment within a hundred miles.

"Hey Dave." He called the man who was sitting in the pilot seat.

"Yeah?"

"Let's use _that_." Stiyl tilted his head to the back of the plane.

The seaplane was rather large, but its interior was simple. There was a pair of metal seats at the front for the pilot and co-pilot, flight instruments within their arms reach, and a massive cargo hold extending the rest of the plane's length. But instead of holding cargo, the space was taken up by a network of metal tubes.

"Orders are orders," replied Dave, "we're not using that here."

"Come on, how is she going to know?"

"Do you have any idea how low we're flying?" The pilot shot back, "we need to climb if we want to use that. I need to get there without getting detected by the airforce, so I'm not going any higher than this."

"Can't you just use it down here?"

"I told you already, it's too dangerous."

"It doesn't seem that dangerous to me."

"If you really want to die," Dave pointed at the door of the airplane, "go take a step outside. Go on. I'll hold it open for you."

"Tsk."

Stiyl clicked his tongue. He wanted to argue more, if nothing else than to kill time, but then thought better of it. No doubt Laura would end up hearing about it, then use it to make fun of him. So instead, he settled for staring out the cockpit.

All he could see was the endless blue ocean.

* * *

Three hours later, Agnese was back in the center of Florianopolis. Her bag was now much lighter. The heavy sack of coins has been replaced by the antique bowl. As she expected, Kasin drove a hard bargain. Not only did he take the gold she carried, but he also got another $1.5 million, to be wired to his account once they ascertained the bowl's authenticity.

Even so, she was quite happy as she reported the news to the Archbishop. With the bowl in hand and her flight back set for tonight, she now has some free time to herself.

This was the rich part of the city. Compared to the neighborhood from earlier, it was almost an entirely different world. The buildings were all modern high-rises made of glass and steel. The streets were smooth and flat. Fancy cars lined the curb, and women walked around toting expensive hand bags. There was even the sweet scent of something delicious in the air.

Her eyes searched the stores around her, before landing on a dessert shop across the street. _Lucia and Angelene had their birthday cake. It's only fair if I get some too._ With a greedy look in her eyes, she reached into her bag and took out a big roll of money. It was originally meant for buying the bowl, but since Kasin took the delayed payment instead, this was left untouched. There's probably enough here to buy the store itself.

_The Archbishop wouldn't mind, would she?_

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

As she left the shop with cake in hand, she noticed a young boy in rags sitting against the edge of the building. His body was hunched over and there was a miserable look on his face.

_What had happened for him to end up like this? Did he also lose his parents in an accident? Or was he simply abandoned?_ Agnese thought to herself.

She didn't really expect to find any answers, and these questions were all inconsequential to her. After all, she had escaped that life almost a decade ago. But despite that, she still stood there looking at him, perhaps hoping that someone else would come by and save him.

Then, by chance, the boy lifted his head, and for a brief moment, their eyes met. She looked down at the box of cake, then back to the boy and the small tin can sitting by his side. Could it have been more obvious? She didn't have to wait for someone else to save him. She is that someone. Even if she can't take him in, she could at least give him a small bit of happiness.

With determined steps, she walked over and opened the box to show him what's inside. The boy's eyes widened in surprise as he beheld the cake.

"Wow."

"It's for you," she said with a smile.

The boy was speechless. He shakily stood up and reached for the box with his hands, a hungry look in his eyes. But just as she was about to hand it to him, she suddenly heard a man's voice behind her.

"There's no need for that." he said in English.

Agnese turned around to see two men, one in a white robe and the other in a dress shirt and slacks. They each had silver crosses prominently displayed on their chests.

_Catholic priests..._ Exactly the people she didn't want to see. But she kept her expression neutral. Hopefully they're just regular priests and not magicians.

"Are you American?" the robed man asked her. He seemed older, and is probably the one in charge.

"British actually," she replied, still holding onto her cake.

"Your generosity is much appreciated. But there's no need for that any longer. Please enjoy the rest of your stay in our fair city."

_What's going on here?_

Seeing no response from her, the two men exchanged a look. The older one nodded to his partner, and the younger man stepped past her to the boy. He knelt down next to him and spoke to him in Portuguese, earning him a concerned look from Agnese.

"What are you going to do with him?"

"We've been watching him for several weeks now." The older man replied. "At first we hoped the government would take him in. But as you can see, he's still here. So we have no choice but take him in ourselves. Rest assured, he will be well taken care of," he added with a disarming smile. His partner, meanwhile, had finished his chat and was walking away with the boy.

"That's awfully kind of you," she said.

"It's what we do," he replied. His eyes shifted briefly in the direction of his partner before returning to look at her. "You are quite generous yourself. Is this your first visit to this country?"

"Yes. The weather here is very nice."

"It is, isn't it? If my priestly duties didn't take up so much of my time I would have been enjoying the beaches myself. I may not look it, but I was quite the surfer in my younger years."

"Is that so?" An image of the middle-aged priest in his white, flowing robe riding a wave came to her mind. _No, there's definitely something wrong with that picture._

The priest looked again at his partner. Agnese followed his eyes, and saw that the other two had walked beyond hearing range. As she turned back, however, she saw the priest's genial demeanor had been replaced by a piercing gaze. It was a look that policemen gave to criminals, and it sent a shiver down her spine.

"Now that the innocents are out of the way, tell me. What's the real reason you are here, magician?" The man asked in a much harsher voice.

_I see, so he is a magician._ Agnese steadied herself.

She had expected as much. In the couple of moments since they started talking, she had already went over the locations of her weapons, escape routes, and any potential enemies that are hiding nearby. She still doesn't know how strong this man is, but at least she's ready for a fight. Now the question is, _can I convince him to leave me alone instead?_

"Hmm? What are you talking about? Magic?" she said with a false look of confusion.

"You're fooling nobody with that. I know a magician when I see one."

_Tsk. Not that easy huh?_

"Standard procedure. Wouldn't want to go around and blurt it out to anyone mentioning the word 'magician' you know. Now, as to why I'm here, well, it might be hard for you to believe. But... I'm on vacation."

"You waste my time with your lie. I can tell there's something special about the bag. What do you have inside?"

"A weapon for self defense. I always carry it around." If there's one thing she learned from interrogating people, it's that the best lies are mostly true.

"Even on vacation? Who is after you and what did you do to them to warrant such caution?"

"You know how it is with our line of work. Besides, that's none of your business."

"Not my business? Ha! You coming to this city makes it my business. I know you're not on vacation. Why don't you make it easier on the both of us and tell me which group you're associated with, and why you are here?"

_This guy sure is persistent._ Agnese let out a deep sigh. "Fine, since you asked for it. I belong to Necessarius, and I've been sent here to collect an overdue debt. The guy wouldn't cough up the dough, so I had to rough him up a bit, if you know what I mean. But I finished my job, and now I'm just strolling around the city like any other tourist until my flight out."

The priest listened carefully to her explanation. He stared at her, searching for the truth behind her ruby red eyes. Even after she finished speaking, he continued to stare.

It was unnerving.

But Agnese had trained for this countless times. She didn't sway under the pressure, nor did she show any signs of fear. Instead, she stared right back, as if to tell him how unreasonable it was to even question her.

_Besides, the cover is perfect. Collecting debt is a common job for magic organizations. It's a job that doesn't threaten the Catholic Church's authority. And more importantly, it lets him know I'm not to be taken lightly. If he's smart, he'd realize I'm far too troublesome to mess with._

The defiant look threw the priest off. He knitted his brows in concentration. And after what felt like ages, he finally spoke up.

"No. You will come to our Church and explain yourself there. I will ask the bishop to decide. If he believes you, then we will let you go."

_You idiot! Can't you decide for yourself?_ Agnese almost blurted out. _In any case, I can't go with him. They will almost certainly have some detection spells around the church — detection spells that could see magical artifacts. That means they will find the Bowl of Plenty the moment I arrive there, and take it for themselves. But if I fight him right here, I'll just end up being surrounded by more of his people. That means the only option left is..._

"Alright, I'll come with you. But I have a condition."

"What is it?"

"You see, I just bought this cake," she lifted it up so the priest can see it in detail, "and I'm a bit hungry."

"If you want to eat, you can do so at the Church. I'm sure we could accommod-"

Without waiting for him to finish, Agnese flung the cake at the him. With less than a foot of distance to cover, he had no time to dodge, and it him squarely in the face. Seeing her surprise attack was a success, Agnese took off running. The priest meanwhile, was smothered by the dessert. He wasted precious seconds wiping it off before he chased after her.

_I really should've worn sneakers,_ Agnese thought as she ran down the street in her flip flops. If it wasn't for her years of practice running around in chopines, she'd probably have tripped and fell by now. Thankfully, the priest wasn't any better dressed. His long flowing robes hindered his movements far more than her footwear did. Slowly but surely, she was leaving him behind.

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

Several minutes later, Agnese sat down in an empty alley completely out of breath.

"Haa... Haa... Haa..."

Though she had lost the priest, there's no time to rest. By now he would have notified the rest of the Church and they are probably gathering their forces. She needs to get out of the country immediately. The plane ticket isn't going to cut it — by the time the flight leaves, they will almost certainly have people guarding the airport.

She took out a piece of paper with some letters scribbled on it. It's her communication token. Like a cell phone, it allows her to talk with people on the other side of the world, with the added benefit of being untraceable.

"Archbishop? This is Agnese."

"Yes?"

"The Church is chasing me, and I think they're angry."

"Oh my," came the reply in an amused tone.

"Um... You don't sound worried at all."

"You can handle them can't you?"

Agnese resisted the urge to punch someone in the face.

"No. I can't. Even if I weren't completely alone versus several hundred people, you still can't expect me to win just like that!"

"Ah, I thought that might happen," Laura said. "Not to worry, I've prepared a seaplane for you. It's flying in from the Falklands and will be there in an hour and half. Just keep your tracker on."

"Understood," Agnese sighed. "By the way, when I get back, I'm going to take a few days off."

"Oh? Did you want something less stressful? Well there's always the primary school~"

"Good bye!"

"Ah–"

_How in the world did such a frivolous woman end up as Archbishop?_ Agnese thought as she angrily folded up the communication token. _Anyways, the tracker is in my shorts pocket. The seaplane will be landing in the water somewhere. So I should head to the marina, or maybe hide somewhere until-_

"There she is!"

Her thoughts were cut short as someone yelled from the alley's entrance. He was followed by a group of people all running towards her.

"Crap!" Agnese took off with her Lotus Wand in hand.

The alley was long and narrow, and the other end quite a distance away. She took a quick look behind her and saw that there were at least six of them in total. They were much quicker than the priest, and were gaining on her fast. She couldn't see any weapons on them either, which means they were most likely magicians too.

_Looks like I can't just run away this time._ She chanted the wand's incantation under her breath.

The Lotus Wand's six silvery petals opened at her command, revealing them to be the wings of an angel. It was a seraphim, an angel of the highest rank. Without stopping, she tapped it lightly against the wall. The wand worked like a remote control, and a second later, the wall some 30 feet further behind exploded with a bang. It threw shards of concrete across the narrow alley at what would have been lethal speeds. Unfortunately, with her back turned, her aim was off. The shards reached the other wall without hitting any of her pursuers. They ran through the lingering cloud of dust without missing a single step.

_Maybe if I stopped and aimed... No, that would give them the chance to fire back. At this speed, I'm not the only one who can't aim._

As if to confirm her thoughts, something large and semitransparent shot past her, passing about two feet away from her head. In response, she touched the Lotus Wand to the wall again. But this time, she scraped it along for almost a full second. Once again, the alley was rocked by an explosion. Instead of a single spot however, a long stretch of the wall was blown apart. She had spread out her attack, casting a much wider net.

The sound of someone screaming told her she had succeeded. The wider angle meant it didn't have as much force behind it, but whether the it had done any real damage was irrelevant. All she needed to do was to slow them down, because ahead of her, the alley was coming to an end.

As she shot out of the alley onto the open street, she ran straight into the path of an oncoming car. The driver slammed on the breaks, and the car screeched to a halt just short of hitting her. An endless stream of curses flew from his mouth as he angrily stomped out of the car. Most of what he said was incomprehensible to the Italian girl, but the rude gestures he made left little to interpretation.

"Sorry, but I'm borrowing your car."

Agnese ignored the the sputtering driver and to the other side of the car. She carefully watched as her pursuers reached the end of the alley. Then, right as the first person stepped onto the sidewalk, she swung the Lotus Wand against the driver-side door.

**Boom!**

Like a leaf blown away by the wind, the car flipped into the air and flew towards them. It was an unstoppable wall of glass and steel, and its course left the them with nowhere to go.

Seeing the impending doom, one of them took out a small square shield and ran towards the car. He reached it a few feet ahead of the others and raised the shield high above his head. Like a machine winding down after its power was cut, the car's flight slowed to a grind, stopping mere inches from his shield.

Agnese had expected something like this to happen. Without waiting for them to recover, she attacked again, this time aiming for the man holding up the car.

With his attention on the car itself, he didn't even notice the invisible blow coming towards him. It impacted his chest like a freight train and blew him away just like the car. As his concentration broke, the car resumed its flight as well.

The car crashed into the alley's opening with a crunch. Agnese couldn't tell whether they were crushed or not. But either way, the force of the impact had turned the car into a mass of twisted metal. Like a cork on a wine bottle, it had completely blocked the exit.

_Even if they survived, it will take time to dig themselves out._

With the marina just 5 minutes away, she'll be there long before they catch up.

* * *

**Author's Corner**

**Laura:** Agnese, you hung up on me! That's mean!  
**Agnese:** That's because keep calling me a primary school student.  
**Laura:** But you're so tiny and cute!  
**Agnese:** I'm not tiny!  
**Laura:** Even your denial is cute. Tehee~  
**Stiyl:** Yeah, unlike a certain Archbishop.  
**Laura:** Wha-?!  
**Author:** *Summons cake* Now, now, why don't we all just calm down and have some cake.  
**Stiyl:** What is it with you and cake?  
**Author:** What do you mean?  
**Stiyl:** It's showing up in every chapter. Don't you know any other desserts?  
**Author:** Uh... should I try cheesecake next time?  
**Stiyl:** ...  
**Laura:** Just ignore him. An idiot like Stiyl would never understand the greatness of cake.  
**Agnese:** That's right! Cake can fix any problem.  
**Index:** Yay! Cake! Cake!  
**Stiyl:** Et tu, Index...?


	4. Descent into the Unknown (Part 1)

**Chapter 4: Descent into the Unknown (Part 1)**

* * *

In Academy City's District 7, a figure popped in and out of existence. It moved in a zigzag pattern across the rooftops, following a group of students down below in the alleys. They were dressed poorly and armed with baseball bats and crowbars, and they seem to be running away.

It was routine Judgment work for Shirai Kuroko. She's chasing down some delinquents who got into a fight in a supermarket. It was the type of work that just never ends. Even when she arrests them, all the city will do is give them detention for a week or two, then let them back out onto the streets.

_Not that they actually go to detention..._ Kuroko sighed, _but at least this is more interesting than picking up trash._

Out of nowhere, her phone rang. She stopped on the roof of an apartment building to answer the call.

"There's a report of a gang fight-" another girl's voice came over the phone.

"Yes Uiharu, I just located them," she replied impatiently.

"No, I mean, there's another one. Six blocks South-Southeast."

"Another one?" Kuroko clicked her tongue. _At this rate, I'm going to spend all day chasing around these delinquents._

"The report says there's three people. No mention of any weapons."

"Roger. I'll head over once I'm done here. Oh and see if you can't get another Judgment office to lend a hand."

"I will try my best, Shrai-san."

Kuroko hung up the phone and resumed her chase.

It didn't take long for her to catch up to them again. She teleported into the air in front of one of them, one foot raised up high. The delinquent ran straight into her, giving himself a kick in the face. He immediately lost his balance and fell over backwards.

Eight nails later and he was safely pinned to the ground.

"One down and three to go."

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

"Haaah~" Kuroko plopped down in her chair, completely exhausted. It's now 8 pm at night, and backup has finally arrived to take over their work.

"Good work, Shrai." Konori Mii, the Judgment office chief said.

"I wonder what happened? All of a sudden there's so many gang fights in this area?" Her teammate, Uiharu Kazari, asked.

"Beats me, at least they're mostly level 0's," Kuroko replied. She leaned her head back until she could see everything upside-down.

"Level-0's? Skill-Out then?"

"What a bunch of idiots. Everyone else is worrying about the Catholic Church going crazy, and they're here causing trouble." Kuroko said with a grimace, though thanks to being upside-down, it looked more like a failed smile. "But I wonder why are they fighting amongst themselves? I had to teleport some of them to the hospital."

"Maybe Konori-sempai knows something?" Kazari turned to the chief.

"Eh? Well, I heard they have a new leader now."

"A new leader?" asked Kuroko.

"Hamazura Shiage, I think. I've met him once, but he didn't look like someone who could run Skill-Out."

"Maybe that's why they're fighting amongst themselves," Kuroko said. She noticed Kazari was looking intensely at something on the screen. "What are you reading, Uiharu?"

"It's just the latest hacker news," she replied without looking back, "they have a new lead on that database break-in from a few months ago."

"Ho? Did they catch the person?"

"No, not that. They found a suspicious computer he might have used in the attack."

"That's it?" Kuroko was unimpressed.

"This is really big news you know," Kazari turned around to face her. "He's one of the best hackers in the entire city. I mean, nobody even noticed that he snuck in until a week later!"

"Is that hard to do?"

"Shrai-san, you don't understand, he took over two front end systems at the same time, used a race condition between them to escalate his privilege, started a separate DDOS to distract security, and when he's done copying the data, he hacked into 3 more systems just to delete the logs!" Kazari excitedly recounted the events. "He did all of that in 12 minutes! It's amazing! Even now we don't know how he got access to the database because even with a privilege escalation, the frontend systems can't connect to it directly. Don't you think that's crazy? I'd do anything to meet him in person."

Kuroko stared blankly at the flower-headed girl. Less than half of what came out of her mouth made any sense. But then a flash of inspiration came.

"You sound like you have a crush on him," Kuroko teased with a grin.

Her comment brought a blush to Kazari's cheeks. "No I don't! It's just that he did it so perfectly I can't help but feel respect..."

"Alright, whatever you say, Uiharu-chan."

Somewhere beside her, Kuroko heard their chief snickering.

Kazari sighed. "Anyways, now that work is finally over, how about we get some dinner? How does yakisoba sound?"

"What a great idea!" Kuroko hopped up from her seat with newfound enthusiasm. "Are you coming Konori-sempai?"

"Ah, you two go ahead, I still have some work left to do."

"Okay, see you tomorrow!" "Bye!"

The two girls packed their things and teleported out of the building.

* * *

_Money really is a universal language,_ Agnese thought as she headed out to the sea. She had tried to explain to the owner of a small speedboat where she wanted to go, but after several minutes of English, Italian, broken Portuguese and wild gesturing, all to no effect, she stuffed 500 reais in the man's hand and just pointed.

They headed South, out of the strait and towards the Atlantic. The small boat raced across the water, bouncing against the waves. It didn't take long before the individual people on the shore were reduced to distant specks.

About half an hour later, they arrived at a group of small, uninhabited islands in the Atlantic ocean. They were covered by lush green foliage and surrounded by a yellow ring of bare rocks and sand. They looked like jewelery from afar — emeralds set in gold, laid upon the turquoise waters. Certain parts of the shores were lined with large boulders, and when combined with the calm waters between the islands, they made perfect natural docks.

Agnese landed on the largest of these islands. After thanking her ferryman, she sent him away. This should be far enough from the city to be safe from the Church.

_Now then, what should I do while I'm waiting for them pick me up?_ Agnese thought to herself.

She pulled out the bowl she went to so much trouble to get. It felt light to the hand — a high quality piece of ceramic for its age. The interior had been clear-glazed, revealing the light-brown clay. The outside had been painted dark brown, with inscriptions scribbled in black.

She was trying to decipher the text when she felt an oncoming bout of dizziness. Thinking she was just seasick, Agnese put the bowl away and sat down. But after waiting for a few minutes, the feeling didn't go away. If anything, it was getting worse. She looked around for any signs of trouble, but her surroundings hadn't changed since she first landed.

_But this is definitely unusual..._ If it was seasickness, she should have felt it while on the boat, or at the latest when she returned to firm ground. She's also not the type to get dizzy from being tired, nor did she eat anything suspicious. Besides the bland-tasting airline food, all she had was coffee with Kasin. He had no reason to hurt her. In fact, he'd want her alive and well so he can collect the rest of his money.

_The Church then?_ She's pretty sure she wasn't hit by anything when she ran through the alley, but it could be a large-scale magic that affects the whole area. _The God's Right Seat is said to have such a weapon. Perhaps they have something similar Brazil? Would they even bother with using that on me?_

The dizziness was starting to interfere with her thoughts. She felt as if the earth itself was being tilted on its side, and gravity was pulling her sideways.

_No. That's not important right now. I just need to know where it's coming from and get away._

If it was indeed magical in nature, there is a simple spell that can pinpoint the source. Gritting her teeth to block out the dizziness, Agnese reached into her bag and took out a piece of chalk. She moved her hand quickly across the stone and drew a spell circle, about 2 feet across. Before she finished filling in the runes around the perimeter, however, the circle began to glow.

_That's strange... Am I hallucinating?_

Incomplete spell circles shouldn't do that. Actually, not even a complete detection spell is supposed to glow.

"Wait... Maybe it's the bowl?" She hastily extracted it from her bag. But to her dismay, the bowl was as inert as ever. Then she noticed the ground was shaking. _When did that start happening?_ But in her daze, she couldn't seem to recall.

And then she looked up. A beam of light was shooting out of the trees not too far from her. It was so bright that it painted a streak of white across the pale blue sky.

_I think I found the problem..._

* * *

Back in the city, in a certain cathedral, Father Dias was not having a good day. He ran into some red-headed brat from England, had a cake thrown in his face, and then chased her through the city. After losing sight of her, he called for backup and organized the search from the streets. But despite his best efforts, she had slipped away again, and this time, she also injured two of his disciples. The entire ordeal was giving him a headache. He had only just returned to the cathedral and washed the remaining bits of whipped cream off of his face when he was summoned to the artifact room.

The artifact room mostly serves as an area to discuss magic. Located in the basement of the cathedral behind a locked door, it's off-limits to tourists, ordinary church-goers, and even most priests who serve here. The caution is not unwarranted, for it holds the fruits of 300 years of artifact collection. And while most are merely here for their historical value, there's quite a few magical artifacts as well.

One of the most important, and certainly the largest artifact in the room is A Pequena Cidade. It's a scale model of Florianopolis and the surrounding lands, about 8 feet on each side. It was an intricate construction of wood and stone, built over 150 years ago by a man obsessed with detail. He had replicated every single part of the city in miniature, down to the tiles on the roofs and potholes on the streets.

But it wasn't until very recently that they discovered the magical power of A Pequena Cidade. An apprentice had came to the room during a skirmish to fetch some weapons, and saw that the model was bustling with activity. Little sparks of light appeared all around the little city. He notified the bishop of the his observation, and after the skirmish, they performed more research on the phenomenon. It seems that whenever someone uses magic in the area, a little spark would appear on the model, showing exactly where it had been casted.

When Father Dias reached the artifact room however, what he saw wasn't a mere spark. Shooting out of the surface, near the edge of A Pequena Cidade, was a dazzling beam that lit up the entire underground chamber.

"What in the world..." he shielded his eyes against the glare.

"Marcelo."

There was another man in the room who was observing the light with keen interest. He acknowledged the priest's entry without looking away.

"Your excellency." This man was the Bishop of Lugo, the Ordinary of this cathedral, and his direct superior.

"I don't suppose you know what we're dealing with here?" He motioned to the miniature city.

The priest took a closer look at the beam of light. The brightness had made it appear larger than it really was. It was actually very narrow and rooted in one of the small islands in the ocean.

"I've never seen anything like this," he answered honestly.

"Neither have I. But I have a theory." The bishop took out a small golden bell from under his robes. "You remember this don't you?"

"Of course."

It's an emergency beacon. A very simple artifact that once activated, sends its own location to every magician whose name was inscribed on it.

The bishop rang it with a flick of his wrist, then pointed at the model city. A speck of light had appeared near the cathedral. It was tiny, especially compared to the bright beam nearby, and it disappeared almost immediately.

He looked up at the bishop in confusion. A Pequena Cidade had correctly detected the magic cast with the bell. But that was expected, wasn't it?

"Now, take this," the bishop took down a hammer from the wall. The head was the size of a grapefruit, and the handle was over 4 feet long. "And swing it at me with all of your strength."

_Did the bishop just lose his mind?_

"Your excellency, I couldn't possibly-"

"No need to be concerned, Marcelo, I have the Walking Church protecting me."

_Ah that's right, I forgot he's wearing that. It would deflect all physical attacks, if I recall correctly._

"But are you sure?" A swing from this hammer would seriously injure an unarmored person. If the magic wavered even for an instant...

"Yes. I'm ordering you to. Now swing at me," the bishop said with finality.

Still not fully convinced, but having no choice in the matter, Father Dias took the hammer from the bishop's hands. He formed a stance and brought the weapon behind him with both hands, taking care not to smash any of the precious artifacts in the room.

"Here I go."

Then with all the strength he dared to call upon, he swung the hammer at the bishop. The hammerhead arc'd through the center of the room and hit the bishop's shoulder, exactly where he had aimed.

_Brrrroonng!_

Much to his relief, the hammer bounced off of the bishop like it hit a wall of rubber. The shock of the rebound shot up the long handle and wrenched it free from his hands. With it's momentum reversed, the hammer flew across the room and punched through the opposite wall, leaving behind a large hole.

"Look!" Without waiting for him to recover from the chaos that was just unleashed, the bishop pulled him over and directed him to the model city.

Another spark of light had appeared.

"Tell me, how does this compared to the bell?" The bishop asked in a rather excited tone.

"It's... brighter?"

It was brighter, and took a bit longer to fade. But even so, it only about as bright as a candle.

"Now what do you think this means? The enchanted bell, a spell commonly casted by new initiates to hone their skills, appeared as a speck of light. While my Walking Church, which took a dozen monks several months to create, was as bright as a candle."

"You mean the A Pequena Cidade not only shows the location of the spell, but also its power?"

"Exactly! We never noticed before because we always casted spells on similar scales."

"But that can's possibly be! If what you say is true, then that..." he pointed to the glaringly bright beam near the edge of the model, "that would be one of the most powerful spells in the world."

"Indeed, you are right. Whatever this is, it's far more powerful than the Gregorian Chant."

_A spell more powerful than the Gregorian Chant? The same one that takes 3000 monks to cast?_

"But... that's impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible, Marcelo. You know what happened in Academy City, don't you? That abomination they created?"

"Yes, and we might be going to war over it. Do you mean to say this is another false angel?"

"I wouldn't rule that out." The bishop said in a serious tone. "The Academy City scientists had created an angel, and the Vatican is right to be afraid of it, but they are afraid for the wrong reason. Their long-standing feud with Academy City blinds them into thinking the danger is Academy City itself. But the very fact that it was possible means something even larger is at play."

"What do you mean something even larger?"

"I do not know what it is. But this much is clear to me — the false angel was a sign, and so is this. Important changes are underway. What was once rare is now common place, and the impossible had been made possible. I just hope... hope that we all survive whatever comes next."

Father Dias looked into the bishop's eyes. There was something there. Something he never thought he would see in his entire life. Something that shook him to his very core.

It was fear.

"Then what should we do?"

"We can only do our best to prepare. But for now," the bishop pointed to the now fading light beam, "we need to know what is happening there."

With a curt nod to the bishop, Father Dias left the room in broad strides. There's much to do and very little time.

* * *

It took a while for Agnese to find the cave entrance amidst the jungle. By the time she had gotten near, the light and shaking had disappeared along with any feeling of discomfort.

The inside of the cave was dark, and she felt her way forward until she remembered a rather useful little invention from Stiyl. She took out a cigarette and drew a small rune at its base. Then she lit it with a match. The tip of cigarette, instead of glowing like embers, burst into a visible flame, bright enough to see by.

As her surroundings were illuminated, it became clear she wasn't in a natural cave. This was a tunnel, and there was some runes etched on the walls. She didn't recognize them. While she didn't have the vast knowledge of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, she still grew up around magic, and she's familiar with the written forms of the most magical traditions. These must belong to one of the more secretive groups.

_Whatever they did here, it's probably dangerous._

The thought made her feel uneasy. Just in case, she activated the Lotus Wand. She could keep it in this state indefinitely — it's just a small drain on her.

As she walked along, the runes formed something resembling words and sentences. The swirling patterns they made looked like the clouds of Jupiter, or maybe a bowl of pasta.

Her stomach growled unhelpfully at the thought. _Actually, I could use some pasta right now._

The tunnel stretched on for quite a long way. But eventually, it came to an end. The descending path had led her to a hemispherical room. There were six people lying face down on the ground. One in the center and five in a circle around him. None of them were moving.

_Are they sleeping?_ It was more of a hope than a guess.

Very carefully, she flipped one of them over. A pair of empty eyes stared back. As much as she wanted to believe otherwise, her suspicions were right. These people were dead. And despite having seen plenty of dead people in her life, she was still struck by how surreal it felt.

The body belonged to a middle-aged woman with blonde hair and pale skin. Like her companions, she wore a dark gray robe whose sleeves reached down past her hands, and hems long enough to have dragged on the ground as she walked. There's no sign of what killed her. No wounds of any kind, no blood on the ground, and no changes in the tone of her skin that could indicate poisoning. Her body was the same in every way to that of a living person's, it was even warm to the touch.

Agnese quickly went over the rest of the bodies. They were all the same, except for the man in the center. He had a visible stab wound in his stomach and a dagger lay nearby on the ground.

_Well, that explains him._

But even so, when she looked closer, she saw that there was no blood on him. Not even his stab wound had any. It was just a hole in his white flesh, and his organs were simply exposed to the air. It was then that Agnese understood why the whole scene felt surreal. There was no scent of blood. None of that rusty, metallic fume that always accompanied a fresh kill.

_This isn't normal..._ she began, before mentally kicking herself. _Of course this isn't normal! Nothing about this cave is normal. I mean, what kind of spell leaves the casters dead?_

There was a long pause.

It was difficult to accept, but she knew exactly what kind of spell this was. The sense of surrealism vanished in an instant.

_Human sacrifices._

Ever since the dawn of humanity, sacrifices had been a staple of rituals everywhere. In ancient India, kings sacrificed their subjects for victory in war. In ancient Egypt and China, servants were buried alive to accompany their lords into the afterlife. In the Americas, Aztecs ripped out the still-beating hearts of their enemies to repay their debts to the gods. And in ancient Israel, in the most important sacrifice of them all, Jesus died on the cross to bring salvation to all of mankind.

This was the most powerful type of magic, and one long since forbidden by every major religion in the world. Human life is precious after all, and there's no need to offer it when hard work and wise decisions could provide the same result. But this is also where its power comes from. In exchange for something so valuable, even miracles were possible.

_Even more so if the casters sacrificed themselves..._ She thought grimly. _But what did they ask for in return?_

Agnese raised her cigarette light and looked closely at her surroundings. On the ground, there was a large pentagon inscribed in two circles. From the current locations of the bodies, she can see that during the ritual, one person stood at each point of the pentagram and the sixth in the center.

This is not unusual. Many spells require a spell circle, and at least half of those require an inscribed shape, with pentagons, hexagons and octagons being the most common ones. Standing on the spell circle merely reinforces its structure.

What _is_ unusual are the runes. Not only were they unrecognizable to Agnese, they were also everywhere. Usually a spell circle by itself is sufficient to cast a spell. But used in conjunction with runes, the caster could change the spell in some way. The more runes, the more changes. This allows for more complicated spells, for example a trap that only activates in the presence of a magical artifact.

Finally, there's the location itself. Far away from the bustling city and deep underground, the site guaranteed that there were no disrupting influences. This too, was important for a complex spell.

"But what was it?" She returned to her original question.

Her examination had only yielded more questions. Her knowledge of forbidden magic was very limited. She was told never to touch the grimoires in the library, and being the obedient girl she was, she had done exactly as she had been told.

"In any case, I should get the word out first." She said to herself as she took out the communication token.

"Archbishop?"

"Yes, Agnese?" the reply was almost instant.

But right at that moment, Agnese heard the echo of a footstep coming from the tunnel.

_More people from their cabal?!_

"Agne-"

She quickly folded away the token and snuffed out the cigarette light. She stood still in the pitch black room and listened. Sure enough, after a few seconds there came more taps of shoes against the floor. In her haste to find the source of the strange phenomena, she had forgotten to set up any kind of detection spell outside the cave.

_You idiot!_ She mentally chastised herself. _You just have to forget that here. There's only one way out!_

But her internal struggle was short-lived. Her mind quickly turned to the situation she was in.

_Let's say they're here to pick up the corpses, would they let me go if I pretend I was just lost in the woods? Maybe something like "Hi, I'm lost. Did you know there are dead bodies here?"_

Agnese shook her head. _No, that would never work. Even if I'm a normal tourist, these crazy people might just kill me to keep me quiet._

The footsteps drew nearer, and to her dismay, it sounded like there were more than one. Peeking out of the room, she saw a flickering orange light in the distance.

If she had to fight them, there's little she could use in here to her advantage. The ceiling was somewhat high, but due to the domed shape, hard to utilize. The walls formed a circle, with only a few feet of space near the entrance that were hidden from view. She'd be visible the moment someone stepped into the room itself. The floor was taken up by the spell circle and the dead bodies.

Traps were out too, as they require space for the magic circle. With runes everywhere, there's not enough space for anything powerful enough to cause damage. And she didn't have time to draw hundreds of little ones. Maybe if she knew what the runes were for, she could repurpose them...

_Wait! The bodies!_

A human body was not the best place to put a spell, especially an explosive one. But since they're dead already, they probably wouldn't mind too much.

She felt her way to the center of the room and took out her chalk from her bag. Working quickly in the dark, she drew a spell circle on each of the bodies, and then turned them over to keep it from view.

Then with some effort, she squeezed herself in beneath the body of the man in the center, taking the lotus wand with her. He was more than two feet taller than she was, and his body easily covered her from head to toe. And with the addition of his robe, it was impossible to see her underneath. At least, that's she hoped for.

_Ugh, he's still lukewarm._ Agnese thought from under the body. It was so heavy it was almost suffocating her.

The footsteps steadily approached, and then stopped. They had arrived at the room. Through the robe, Agnese could see the orange glow of their torch. She held her breath and forced herself to remain completely still. For what seemed like an eternity, all she could hear was her own heart beating away at the silence.

Then a young man's voice broke through. He spoke quietly is Portuguese. Agnese struggled to understand what he said, but he spoke too quickly. Another voice responded, this time female. They exchanged a couple of words, and then stepped towards the corpses. This is what she had been waiting for.

From underneath the fallen man, Agnese readied her spells and wand. There's no telling what her hastily drawn spell circles would do.

_In any case, I should wait. The closer they get, the more damage the spells will do._

Almost as soon as she thought that, she heard rustling nearby.

_Now!_

**Boom! B-boom**

A chain of explosions rocked the room. The heavy body above her protected her from the shock and shrapnel. In one swift motion, she kicked it away and rose to face her opponents.

But the man she saw was not who she had expected. It was the priest from the church! One of his hands was raised to shield him from the blasts earlier, and the other held a cross-shaped implement, a weapon presumably. To his side, a young man lay on the ground, unmoving, and behind him, a young woman was covering her face, fresh blood seeping out between her fingers. Three of her five traps had sprung, and one of those was on the body they touched. A look of recognition crossed the priest's face.

_I don't think I can talk my way out of this one._

Before the priest had time to act, Agnese brought the lotus wand upon him. An invisible blow shot towards him from the side. The motion alerted him to the danger, and he immediately ducked from the attack. Then, pointing his cross at her, he muttered something under his breath.

Without waiting for his attack to come, Agnese dived to the side. Whatever it is, he had to aim for it to work. She landed several feet away and rolled to her feet. Her gut instincts had been right. Sharp metal spikes more than a foot long erupted from the ground on which she had stood just a moment ago.

"Take this!"

She swung her wand at him again. Predictably, he ducked out of the way. But the invisible bullet flew far above his head and hit the ceiling, breaking off loose chunks of rock and bringing it down on his head. It took a second for him to recognize her intent, and he leapt to the side just in time. Seeing the hole in his defense, Agnese dashed towards him. The attacks from the lotus wand were slow and could be avoided.

_But not if it's from point-blank!_

She was just 3 feet away from her fallen enemy when she sensed movement to her left. Years of combat experience screamed danger at her. She thrust her foot in front of her and stomped hard against the ground, turning her forward momentum into a jump. As she left the surface, a glass spear as thick as her arm shot past, mere inches in front of her chest.

_That was close!_

But the sneak attack did not distract her from her goal. If anything, it made her even more determined to take down the priest. Winning a fight against an experienced magician is no easy feat. Why make it even harder and take on two at once? She swung her wand at the priest again mid-jump. But instead of dodging as she had expected, the priest pointed his cross at the ground beneath her.

_What the-_

In the same instant her attack met its target, a sharp pain pierced through her leg. The priest took her attack head-on and was thrown across the room where he hit the wall with a satisfying crunch. But it wasn't a simple victory for her. When she looked down, she saw a metal spike protruding from her left calf.

"Marcelo!" A woman's voice called out from her left and snapped her out of her reverie.

_This is no time to be pinned to the ground!_ Gritting her teeth, Agnese pushed down with her good leg.

"Aagh!"

The force pulled her injured leg from the spike. It left a gaping hole, and blood gushed forth from the wound. Ignoring the pain, she turned to face her one remaining opponent, who had by now also turned their attention to her.

The woman moved first. She held a 3 feet long pipe, one end of which was glowing orange. When she swung it, the glowing end produced a long stream of molten glass. It flew at Agnese at speed, cooling in mid-flight to form a sharp glass spear.

Agnese crouched and rolled to the side. The glass spear missed her and crashed into the stone wall behind her, shattering into a million pieces. Then as she rolled upright, she counterattacked. The shot headed straight for its mark, but the woman easily side-stepped out of the way and retaliated again with her own.

They exchanged two more rounds of attacks, but neither could land a hit on each other. As if by mutual agreement, they both stopped to analyze their opponent.

The torches brought by the newcomers had been left on the ground. The orange glow from below gave the woman a striking resemblance to those angry spirits frequently found horror movies. Her shoulder-length brown hair was loose and flayed, dark streaks of blood ran down her face, her t-shirt was in tatters from the trap's explosion, and her jeans were torn in several places. But what really gave her that demonic aura was the vengeful fury in her eyes. It seemed like she had been rather close the priest, who hadn't moved at all since his run-in with the wall.

Agnese on the other hand, had more worries on her mind. She had to win, and win fast. Although the pain was bearable, her leg was still bleeding and if left untreated, she would start to lose her concentration, maybe even her consciousness. Her opponent's attack seemed similar to hers, but they were more visible and direct. At least theoretically, she should have the upper hand, if it wasn't for her injury that is.

Once again, the woman moved first. This time, she summoned three spears. They sliced through the air, one heading straight towards her, while the other two were angled to the left. It took everything Agnese had to duck out of the way. The woman had noticed her weakness, and deliberately aimed to her left so that she had to use her injured leg to dodge.

Before Agnese had time to recover, the woman attacked again with the three more spears.

_Don't underestimate me!_

Agnese swung the lotus wand at the incoming spear, the one aimed straight at her. The invisible blow met the glass midway, shattering it, and throwing fragments back the way they came. Like shotgun pellets, the shards covered a huge area. The counter caught the woman by surprise, and she barely had time to cover her face.

"How do you like a taste of your own medicine?"

The woman, however, ignored her taunt. She held up her pipe and formed a large blob of molten glass, about size of a grapefruit, and launched it at Agnese. The blob solidified mid-flight into a melon-shaped object, which, though larger than the spears, was also much slower.

Agnese easily landed a hit on it. But instead of shattering like the spear, the glass blob was merely deflected to the side. It bounced harmlessly on the ground and stopped near her feet. She looked up at the woman to see a smirk on her face. Her eyes were still looking at the glass blob.

_A feint?_

Agnese noticed it a second too late. There was a thin strand of glass linking the blob to the woman's hand. With a twist of her hand, the glass thread shattered into a powdery cloud. Like a fuse, the shock wave traveled along the thread to the glass blob, and caused it to explode like a bomb. Thousands of razor sharp pieces flew in every which direction.

Agnese screamed in pain as the shards cut through her slender legs and brought her down to the ground. Blood streamed out of her wounds. Her entire lower half felt like it was on fire.

The woman walked slowly towards her, the pipe raised.

_Get up!_ Agnese ordered herself to no avail. She had no more strength left in her legs. _Come on!_

"Eight people have died by your hands, and two more are in the hospital," the woman said coldly, "your murder spree ends here."

Agnese desperately pulled herself away. The lotus wand had been thrown from her hand in the explosion and she had nothing to defend herself with.

"I didn't kill them. They were dead when I-"

"And Marcelo?" she spoke through her teeth.

"I..."

_The priest could have dodged it!_ She thought, but then she realized that was no excuse. She would have dealt that blow to him eventually. He was neither as nimble nor as skilled as a fighter as herself.

"I didn't mean to kill him."

"Ha! Tell that to God when you face your judgment!" The woman lifted her pipe and created another glass spear.

"Now say goodbye!"

* * *

**Author's Corner**

**Laura:** Agnese, you're so mean. You hung up on me again!  
**Agnese:** It's not my fault this time. I can't help it!  
**Laura:** I know you're cute, but if you keep doing this, I won't like you anymore.  
**Agnese:** Did you even read the chapter? I'm dying here! At least show some sympathy.  
**Laura:** Fine. I'll forgive you this time. But if you hang up on me again I'm taking it out on your allowances.  
**Agnese:** Why you-  
**Kuroko:** I think it's time for some cake again. Author, if you could?  
**Agnese:** ...  
**Kuroko:** Author? Hello? ...  
**Agnese:** The Author's not here.  
**Kuroko:** Then where...  
**Agnese:** I heard the author is at work.  
**Laura:** At work? But it's the weekend! The weekend is for R&amp;R.  
**Agnese:** Easy for you to say, miss I-bathe-all-day-everyday.  
**Kuroko:** Yeah, tell me about it. I haven't had a free weekend ever since I joined Judgment.  
**Laura:** *Pouts* But I don't bathe all day...  
**Agnese:** Then explain this £250 gas bill! If you want to bathe, do it at your own house.  
**Laura:** That's not very much money though... only £250...  
**Agnese:** If only a certain archbishop weren't so stingy with our living cost! Do you know how much trouble I went through trying to pay this off? How about I strip you of those fancy clothes you're wearing and sell them to the lowest bidder?  
**Laura:** B-but that's sexual harassment!  
**Agnese:** Your existence is sexual harassment! Get over here!  
**Laura:** Kyaaa~ *runs away*


	5. Descent into the Unknown (Part 2)

**Chapter 5: Descent into the Unknown (Part 2)**

* * *

The seaplane flew towards a cluster of three islands by Ilha de Santa Catarina, some distance away from Florianopolis itself. Stiyl had set up a tracking mechanism consisting of a pebble tied to a piece of string, and after a few flybys, they determined that Agnese was on the largest of three.

They prepared for landing and descended towards the sea. But as they were about to land, they noticed several speedboats were also heading towards the island from the opposite side. At least one of the people aboard appeared to be a Catholic priest. What they were after, Stiyl could not say, but he knew these people were bad news.

They drove the seaplane into a small cove. Here, behind the mouth of a small stream, thick foliage hid the plane from view. It would be safe here. But just in case something were to happen, Stiyl decided to leave Dave with the plane, while he himself set out for the tallest hill on the island.

Its height gave him a bird's-eye view of the entire area. From here, he could see three speedboats floating by the rocks. Between them, they probably carried around 15 people aboard, though he could only see four standing nearby. They certainly appeared to be clergy from their archaic style of dress.

Stiyl frowned as he took in the situation.

_That means the rest of them had already gone into the forest._

He had planned to ascertain the locations of the newcomers, then sneak past them to Agnese, but it looked like he's going to need a new plan.

_Speaking of whom..._ He took out a communication token from his pocket and unfolded it. Really, he should've called so as soon as he spotted the boats, but in the midst of landing the plane and finding a good hiding spot, he had forgotten.

"Agnese."

"..."

"Agnese? Do you copy?"

"..."

"This is Stiyl, I'm on the island. Agnese, can you hear me?"

"..."

_Don't tell me she's been knocked out..._ Stiyl frowned. "Agnese?"

"..."

"Tsk." He clicked his tongue and folded away the token.

With no other way of contacting her, he took out the "Agnese tracker" from his pocket. Taking the string end, he let the pebble dangle freely underneath. A little rune on the pebble glowed, and he felt a firm tug from the string. The tracker was pointing straight down at the ground.

_Strange._

He moved his hand from side to side, trying to induce some movement. But the string stayed taut, still pointing down.

_She can't be... Beneath me?_

Stiyl stared hard at the ground. This doesn't make any sense. The bedrock is almost certainly granite, and if he remembered his geology correctly, that means there couldn't be any caves on the island.

_At least not natural ones._

The realization put his mind in high gear. There are many reasons a man-made cave could exist on the island. Perhaps it was just an ill-planned mining expedition. Or perhaps... In any case, he hadn't seen any on the way up, nor could he see any from where he was. Even if there were caves, their entrances would naturally be facing the ocean, away from his view. With so many Catholics running around, he can't simply search the entire island.

_At the very least, I should track their movements..._ Stiyl thought, "...and I know just the thing."

* * *

The spell came into his repertoire in a rather roundabout way. He was trying to get Sherry to teach him the "Mud Eyes" she used to spy on Academy City. The spell created a large number of eyeballs from mud, which could move freely through the ground and the walls, relaying whatever they saw to the spell caster. They were as effective as they were creepy.

But that didn't matter to him. Reconnaissance magic was something he always wanted to learn, yet he had never managed to master a good spell. From the off-hand remarks Sherry made about it, he concluded it would be rather easy for him to learn.

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

"I refuse." She replied without even looking up from her work.

And just like that, he was denied.

"Why?" He stood up from his seat. But neither the question nor his action solicited any response from the magic researcher.

It could also be that she just wasn't interested in passing on the knowledge. One never knew when friends, willingly or not, would face each other in battle. But he'd rather not mention that, and at least in his mind, they had gotten well enough to put that aside.

"Am I not good enough to learn this?" He asked.

"It's dangerous," she answered, sparing him a sideways glance before returning to the thick tome she was reading.

"I'm not a kid. It's not your responsibility if I hurt myself."

"Even so, the answer's no."

The lack of any explanations irked him. But trying to push her further won't help his cause.

"Fine, so be it."

He turned around to leave, but a thought nagged at him.

"Just last week you said it was one of the first spells you learned and it was easy for someone with a good foundation in summoning magic. Considering the fact that I can summon Innocentis, by all means, it should be a breeze for me. Was that not the case?"

She looked up again, then sighed. "I wasn't lying, if that's what you're asking. The Mud Eyes is indeed an easy spell I picked up from a book. But I won't teach it to you. Because for you in particular, it's dangerous. Especially considering the fact that you're a teenage boy. In fact, I would go as far as to warn you not to try and learn it on your own."

"You... You're not making any sense." His confusion and irritation was apparent on his face. "What do you mean for me in particular? And what does my age have anything to do with this?"

_Really! Who does she think she is? Not teaching me is one thing, but to go as far as forbidding me from learning it myself?_

Before the situation could deteriorate any further, however, the door to the study opened, revealing Orsola Aquinas, the other resident magic researcher.

"Good timing, Orsola." He turned to the newcomer. "Maybe you can get her to explain this properly."

"Eh?"

"I want to learn the 'Mud Eyes' magic she uses, but she's refusing to teach me, or even let me learn it on my own. All she would say is that it's dangerous."

"The 'Mud Eyes', huh..." Orsola put a finger against her chin in thought. "Mmm, I suppose that would be quite dangerous for you to learn."

_What? Don't tell me you're in on this too... Is this some sort of elaborate prank?_ God knows they would try something so ridiculous just to mess with him.

"Ah, but if you just want to learn a detection spell, I know a really good one. It's quite simple too."

_Wait, did she just..._ Stiyl's eyes lit up at her words.

"Then... You'll teach me?"

"Of course," she smiled, "it goes something like this..."

* * *

He began by drawing a large pentagram in the dirt with a stick. At each tip of the pentagram, he added a rune, and in the center, he scooped together a mound of dirt that roughly resembled the shape of the island. Next, he scraped some moss off of a rock nearby and sprinkled them over the mound. Then he took out a plastic water bottle and emptied its contents into the depression around the mound, forming an O-shaped puddle.

From his pocket, he took out a handful of pebbles and carefully drew runes on them. He placed one pebble at the top of the mound, another at its edge, and 4 more on the opposite side, together with three long leaves. Finally, he took the remaining pebbles in his hand and threw them up into the air, scattering them over the mound.

Finally, he moved to the edge of the circle and knelt down facing one of the points of the pentagram. Here, he drew another rune — the focus of the entire spell. It was a complex rune, created from the amalgamation of 4 others. The process took some time as he didn't have many chances to practice using this particular rune, and any minor errors in its rendering would break the spell.

When he was done, he said the incantation:

"Heavenly light, set my sights free  
upon the darkness that surrounds me.

Rain and shine,  
blood and wine.

Show me what I could not see,  
and let shadows no longer be."

As he finished, the pentagram began to glow. The little pebbles that had been scattered all over the mound of dirt lifted themselves up and rolled around, some moving as far as the other side before settling down.

The spell was indeed very simple. It utilized the very basics of Idol Theory to link a model with the real thing. If he looked very closely, he could see the pebbles occasionally rolling to a different location — this was the movements of the Catholics.

However, there were several downsides to this spell. First, it doesn't identify the people it's tracking, which means trying to use it in a heavily populated area could easily lead to confusion.

Second, it's immobile. Even if he were to build the model on some sort of platform, the moment it was moved, its link would break, rendering the model inert.

And finally, there's the time it takes to cast. The correctness of the model determined its accuracy. This one he had just made could probably track the Catholics to within several hundred feet. Though it was terrible by almost any measure, the level of accuracy was sufficient for his purposes.

He carefully followed the movements of the pebbles. It seemed like the Catholics are looking for something. They moved quickly and in pairs, fanning out from the boats in what could only be described as a search pattern. There were 5 pairs in total. He noted with relief that none of them were moving towards the seaplane or himself.

After several minutes, he began to notice a change. One pair of pebbles had stopped moving. And the rest, instead of spreading out further, started to converging on that one pair.

_They're regrouping... and it doesn't look like they are planning to leave._

Soon enough, they had gathered together. Then without warning, three of the pebbles dug themselves into the dirt mound, disappearing into the earth.

"Tsk." This was the cave he was looking for! _And to think they found it so easily._

Unfortunately, his spell was only good for the surface. While it still tracked the pebbles underground, he couldn't just pry apart the mound to look at them.

_Now what?_ Stiyl considered what he should do next. _It could be the cave Agnese was hiding in, or it could be something completely different. Should I risk taking them on? If it turned out to be something unrelated, all of that would be for nothing. On the other hand, if that's her, she's going to be outnumbered 10 to 1._

Not that adding him would make that much of a difference. But she just might be counting on him.

"Ha." He let out a cold laugh.

_I can't let her down, can I?_

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

Stiyl took a deep breath. While he wouldn't admit it out loud, he was feeling quite nervous, not entirely unlike a performer before his big premiere. He had done all the preparations. The props had been gathered, the costumes donned, and the backdrops moved into place — the stage was set. All that's left is the performance itself.

He allowed himself one last peek over the bush that hid him from view. There were 7 Catholics guarding the cave entrance. They had spread themselves out amongst the trees, far enough apart that no single attack could affect them all. It also meant they were well-versed in magical combat, and very dangerous.

While that doesn't mean he won't be able to handle them, he still had no idea what was inside the cave. All he could see from here is a pitch-black hole into the hillside. The three that had went in hadn't came back, so all of this could be for nothing.

He shook his head to clear away the lingering doubt. There's no time to waste. Agnese could be busy fighting them already. Besides, after that ridiculously long and tedious trip on the seaplane, wasn't he itching for some real excitement?

_Let's see how you Catholics measure up against Stiyl Magnus. It's time for the show to begin!_

In one smooth motion, Stiyl stood up and turned around, bringing himself out into the open and attracting the attention of one of the guards.

"Ei! Você!" The man closest to him called out.

Instantly, all seven pairs of eyes were on him.

_Good. Time to leave._ Stiyl turned around and fled into the forest.

"Pare!" A chorus of shouts followed him.

He weaved through the trees, jumped over the tangled roots, and ducked behind the bushes, always keeping a tree or two between him and his pursuers. It wasn't particularly difficult for him. In fact, he could have gone even faster and lose them completely, but that wasn't his goal.

_At least they haven't started attacking me yet._ Stiyl thought. It seems the Catholics weren't sure who he was, and were content with just chasing him.

As he came upon a small bit of clearing, he turned his head to check on his quarry. To his disappointment, he could see only two people following him.

_Their leader was smart enough to keep some guards back at the cave entrance._ He thought as he dived into the trees once more. He had hoped to net them all in one go.

_But no matter, I just have to go back again after I take care of these guys._

He jumped across a small stream and stopped a small distance away on the other side. Crouching behind a bush, he grabbed a piece of rope he had left behind earlier.

_Judging by the size of that clearing earlier, they should be 15? Maybe 20 seconds behind me?_

He steadied his breathing to try to calm his heart. Its loud thumps were interfering with his hearing. Once he had it under control, he carefully poked his head out from behind the bush and waited.

Sure enough, after just a brief moment alone, he saw two men- No, two teenagers, running through the trees towards the stream bank. They were following his tracks in the wet soil — tracks that he had deliberately made extra clear for them. The line of footprints led them through a narrow opening between two trees where the ground began to descend into the stream bed. There, lightly buried beneath the soil, was the first part of his trap.

When they reached that spot, he pulled hard on the rope.

"Aaah!" Came a yelp.

The tripwire caught them and threw them tumbling down into the stream. There, underneath the bubbling waters, were a dozen or so rocks, arranged into the shape of a rune. It was the second part of his trap.

"Kenaz," he said. A thin line of fire raced along the ground, tracing the path he had drawn. It reached the edge of the water in less than a second, then sliced through it, leaving a string of bubbles in its wake.

**Boom!**

Stiyl held himself steady as an explosion rocked the banks. When the dust and steam passed, he saw that the two teens were unconscious. They lay unmoving against the stream bank.

_And now the rest of them._

Stiyl made his way back to the cave entrance. But when he arrived there, he found himself alone.

_Where did they-_

"That style of magic." A voice came from behind him. "Another one from Necessarius, am I right?"

Stiyl felt his blood run cold. Slowly, he turned around. There were five Catholics standing only 20 feet away from him.

_Since when did they get behind me?_

Their weapons were all raised, ready to kill at a moment's notice. Even though he steeled his exterior to not show any emotion, he still felt the rolling trepidation deep within. It was a primal fear that would send lesser men running for their lives. However, he also knew that running away would be the worst thing he could do. There will be a time for that soon enough. First, he needs to buy time.

"Marcelo was right to leave us here to guard the entrance. Though he seems to have overestimated the threat." The one in the middle said in an annoying voice. He seemed to be the leader of this group, and he was taking full advantage of the chance to show off his superiority.

"I take it you missed the part where two of your people had fell asleep while chasing me?" Stiyl returned with his own holier-than-thou tone. As he spoke, he slowly stood up and reached one hand into his pocket. The long folds of his robe hid his hand from view, and once inside, he felt for a piece of folded-up paper.

"Is that really the tone you want to take with me?" He raised the staff in his hand and pointed it at Stiyl. "Those two are irrelevant. You are outnumbered five to one."

"Heh... Considering how weak they were, you might as well all surrender right now." Stiyl put his free hand to his chin as if he was seriously considering something. "In fact, if you get down on the ground and beg for mercy, I might let you go unharmed."

"Says the idiot who stepped right into my trap. And I thought you were quite brave trying to take on all of us by yourself, but you're really just plain stupid. I'm done wasting my time with you... Capture him!"

On cue, the other four loose a barrage of magic. The attacks were too strong to face head-on and too numerous to dodge, but Stiyl already had a plan. He pulled out the piece of paper in his pocket and threw it in front of him.

"Absolution!"

At his command, flames burst forth from the paper, forming a circular disk twice as tall as himself. The disk of fire split the battleground in two, with him on one side and his opponents on the other. When the incoming magic reached the fire, they disappeared into it without a trace.

Then, as quickly as it came, it burnt away, leaving a single scorched line where it had touched the ground. It had lasted a total of just three seconds, but it was enough time for Stiyl to run halfway to the cave.

"Don't let him inside!" The leader yelled behind him.

A second later, another barrage of magic shot toward him. But he knew they were coming and ducked to the side. The leader was cunning, but that didn't make his disciples any less predictable.

He reached the cave as the Catholics readied yet another round of attacks.

_You might have the upper hand out there,_ he thought, _but in here, numbers mean nothing!_

Hundreds of rune cards came flying from inside his robes. They scattered in all directions and stuck themselves to the cave's walls and ceiling.

This was his most powerful spell.

"One of the five from which the world is made."

He slowed to a stop and turned around to face the entrance.

"The great flame of the beginning. It is the light of blessing that gives life, and the light of judgment that punishes evil. Overflowing with calm blessings and freezing misfortune-"

He ducked as a massive tree trunk flew past. The Catholics had converged on the cave opening, but were hesitant to enter. Instead, they opted to attack him from range.

"-against the cold darkness: its name is fire and its role is the sword. Be manifested and become the power that consumes me."

"Innocentis!"

A ball of fire lit up the tunnel, and from it, came a glowing humaniod shape.

**"Aurroogh~"**

The Fire God had answered his call.

A wave of searing heat pushed both caster and enemies back. It's body, four times as tall and wide as a human's, filled the entirety of the narrow cave. The impenetrable wall of fire lashed out at the Catholics, who were forced back into the forest. Only the range of the rune cards kept it from killing them all.

From the safety of the trees, they tried to attack it. But they found their spells ineffective. Whatever damage they did to the Fire God healed in the blink of an eye. Launching a tree trunk at it didn't help either — it was literally adding fuel to the fire.

Innocentis was untouchable.

_That should keep them busy for a while._ Stiyl thought as he turned away. Checking the string-and-pebble tracker once again, he stepped into the deep, black interior of the cave.

_I wonder now... What I will find in here?_

* * *

Kamijou Touma was walking home from school with his book bag slung over his shoulder. It had been a quiet day, one which was so uneventful that most students would consider boring. But for Kamijou Touma, such a day was a blessing. Thanks to his bad luck, the only kind of excitement he could have is misfortune.

He came upon some students handing out flyers. He knew what these were, advertisements for various products that were no doubt too expensive for him to buy. Normally, he would just ignore them and keep walking. But one of the girls stuck out from the rest.

She wore a white t-shirt with red trimmings and a red and black skirt — a simple outfit that stood out in the crowd. It was not particularly revealing, but it still allowed her curves to show through. Her light-brown hair was cut short to her neck, and her face revealed a myriad of joyous expressions as she caught one of the boys passing by and convinced him to take a flyer. She would be considered cute, or perhaps even beautiful by most of the male students in the city. She was also quite tall, almost as tall as himself.

However, the reason Touma noticed her was not because of her looks. Rather, it's because she's giving him a weird vibe. If he was more superstitious, he might have called it a sixth sense. The girl wasn't dangerous, nor did it look like she was tricking or taking advantage of anyone. In fact, she's probably a very normal student here in Academy City. But somehow he just knew that getting involved with her would only bring him suffering.

He contemplated whether he should try and avoid her completely by going a different route. But by then he had already walked halfway down this block. If he was to run away, he needed to turn 180 degrees and go back the way he came.

_Running away from a bunch of students handing out fliers?_ He thought. _Just how cowardly am I?_

He ignored his sixth sense and kept walking.

_Really, what's the worst that can happen? I can avoid taking any fliers and not talk to any of them._

He put his free hand in his pocket, set his eyes on the ground, and walked as quickly as he could manage without attracting too much attention.

The other students didn't even bother with him. They had been at this long enough to know who's friendly enough to take a flier, and who's a lost cause. But just as he thought he was in the clear, he heard a voice from behind him.

"Hey you, take a flyer."

_What's with this commanding tone?_ It was so unexpected that it made Touma stop in his steps — a grave mistake which he would later regret. He turned to the girl to see if she really did just say that to him.

"Um..."

To his horror, the girl was staring straight at him with an incredibly serious look.

"We're SAFE, an organisation founded and run by students just like you." She began to explain what it was about. Surely it was a speech she had given a hundred times. "Our mission is to improve the lives of all students currently studying in this city. We promote equality, justice and freedom of expression. Our first and most important goal is to give voice to..."

Without fully intending to, Touma tuned out the rest of it. Politics was about as interesting as watching grass grow, and with _that_, at least you end up with a lawn of some sort at the end. His eyes drifted downwards, attracted by the immense gravity of the girl's, well, let's just say she was nothing like the washboard that was Index.

_Why couldn't I have a girl like this living with me instead? Ah, but she seems really bossy. Maybe if she had Misaka Imouto's personality?_

"Hey, are you even listening to me?"

_Crap!_

"Yes I'm listening! SAFE right? It sounds like a great cause."

She eyed him suspiciously, then let out a sigh.

"Anyways, as I was saying, we have one meeting every week. The next one is tonight at 6. So be sure to come, okay?"

"Yes! Of course." Touma nodded enthusiastically. He took the flyer from her hand and walked away. Of course, despite saying that, he did not actually plan to go.

_Now then, where's the nearest trash bin?_ A cursory glance around revealed no such thing. _Meh, whatever._

He resumed his walk back home, and with nothing better to do, he took another glance at the flyer. It was another one in a chain of mistakes that he would later regret.

The flyer was simple but to the point. It didn't have the annoying and eye-catching colors frequently found in advertisements. The text ran down the center, surrounded by a light brown border around the margins, and a flourish at each corner. Besides the name of the organization at the very top, there was just their mission and the time and location of the event. But what caught Touma's eye was some very small text at the bottom.

"Refreshments available"

_Could this be?_

"_FREE_ food!?" He yelled out loud, startling several people nearby.

Had Lady Luck finally blessed him? Or was Imp of Misfortune simply sleeping on the job? He gripped the flyer in his hands and looked towards the heavens.

_Whatever misfortune he would meet tomorrow, today would be a good day._

* * *

The "cave" turned out to be a tunnel, dug by human hands. Stiyl didn't dare light a fire for the risk of exposing himself, so he had to feel his way forward. There were some bumps and pits on the wall. When he stopped to check them out, he discovered that they were runes, etched into the stone.

The resonating sound of someone's scream gave him a start. It was still far away and he couldn't tell whose voice it was, but it sounded serious. Giving up on the runes, he hastened his steps forward.

When he saw torch light up ahead, he slowed to a crawl. The tunnel terminated in a big room, and he could see two figures inside. One standing, and the other sitting or laying against the far wall. Sneaking forward as quietly as he could, he approached the room.

The one standing was a woman. She faced away from him, pointing what seemed to be a metal pipe at the other figure.

_Agnese?!_

Even from this distance, Stiyl could tell she was in trouble. Her clothes were torn in many places, her skin was marred by countless lacerations, her lower left leg had a suspicious black spot... And there was blood everywhere.

The carnage extended to the rest of the room. There were at least 7 or 8 bodies lying around, with bits of body parts intermixed with rock and debris that had fallen from the roof.

There was a purse right next to the entrance. It was in a location that would not have been visible until a person had entered the room. Then to his left, there was the Lotus Wand, still in its activated state. It was close enough that he could risk taking it without being discovered.

"I didn't mean to kill him." Agnese's voice brought his thoughts back to the people in the room.

"Ha! Tell that to God when you face your judgment!" The woman lifted her pipe.

A long semitransparent object materialized in midair, hovering several inches from her side. Stiyl wasn't sure what the spear-like thing was, but there's no doubt it was a weapon.

_I need to stop her!_

"Now say goodbye!" She yelled.

"How about we say hello first?" Stiyl spoke up. It sounded lame, but unlike those heroes on TV, he didn't have time to come up with a cool line. It did the job in any case.

The woman whipped her head around. She turned halfway to face him, leaving her pipe and spear still pointed at Agnese. A look of shock plastered all over her.

"Stiyl Magnus," he introduced himself, "of Necessarius. I specialize in fire magic." As he said that, a fireball appeared in his hand.

"I'm here to collect the girl. If you have any objections, I'm happy to show you my skills in combat. Though I must warn you — fire in enclosed spaces like this are _exceptionally_ dangerous."

He made sure to emphasize that last part, to hopefully scare her into letting Agnese go. There's no telling how much collateral damage he would do if he fought seriously. The room may very well turn into an oven.

"If you think I'm going to let her go after all she did..." There was so much venom in her voice that Stiyl almost flinched. "Well, you-"

"Maria."

The interruption came from an unexpected direction. A middle-aged priest who Stiyl assumed was dead had woken up, and he was now struggling to get on his feet.

"Marcello!" To his surprise, the woman abandoned Agnese and Stiyl and ran to the man's side. "Don't move, you're hurt."

_Hey, weren't we about to start fighting over here?_

"I'll live." He brushed it off, but settled for staying as he was. His eyes surveyed the room before landing on Stiyl.

"I take it you're only here for the girl?"

"That's right," he replied, "unless you wish to stop me."

The priest shook his head.

"But Father-" the woman protested.

"Let them go," the priest said. "They're not our real enemy."

"Besides," he said as he looked her over. It seemed the battle with Agnese did not leave her unscathed. Like her opponent, she had many tears in her robe, and bloody lacerations all over her body.

"You don't need to be hurt any more than this." He said as he looked into her eyes. It was gentle look, one that spoke of his concern. No matter how angry a person was, such a look would certainly soothe her heart.

"I-I understand," she acquiesced.

The two of them looked over at Stiyl, who took that as his cue to get what he came for. Agnese had unfortunately passed out from blood loss, and he had to perform a basic healing ritual. The pair of Catholics looked on in silence.

When he finished, the woman led him out of the cave and past the guards still battling Innocentis. It was a surprisingly anticlimactic end to the whole ordeal, though Stiyl was not one to complain.

* * *

**Author's Corner**

**Author:** And there you have it! Chapter 5!  
**Agnese:** You really did a number on our dear readers, leaving them with a cliffhanger for so long.  
**Author:** So sorry. Really, I'd like to give them all cake as an apology.  
**Agnese:** I don't think that's going to work. Besides, who holds cake parties?  
**Author:** I guess that's true.  
**Accelerator:** By the way, Author, when am I going to show up? I'm supposed to be one of the main characters right?  
**Author:** Well... You're showing up now, aren't you?  
**Accelerator:** ...what?  
**Author:** ...  
**Accelerator:** ...  
**Author:** Hehe...  
**Accelerator:** Whatever, it's not like I wanted to be in your story anyways.  
**Author:** ...you don't have to be so tsundere about it.  
**Accelerator:** Tsun- I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!  
**Author:** Gyaaaaaaaa~


	6. Descent into Politics (Part 1)

**Chapter 6: Descent into Politics (Part 1)**

* * *

It was 6:10 pm, and Touma had just arrived at SAFE's meeting place. It was a warehouse in district 5, only 15 blocks from his dorm. But fate, it seems, had conspired against him every step of the way.

First his alarm failed to go off because his phone ran out of batteries. Then the bus drove away just as he arrived at the bus stop. While he waited for the next bus, he suddenly remembered that Index would be hungry when she gets back home. Since he didn't want to become dinner himself, he ran back home to quickly throw something together. Of course, by the time he finished, the second bus had left as well, leaving him no choice but to walk if he still wanted to make it in time.

All in all, he had spent the better part of an hour trying to get there.

The large warehouse had been mostly cleared. Its usual cargo had been moved to one side, leaving a large open area in the center. A raised stage had been setup at the far end, though it was still empty save for a microphone stand and a row of chairs. Over 300 students had crammed themselves in here, all chatting amongst themselves as they waited for their hosts to appear.

On the left side of the warehouse was a sign hanging from the ceiling labeled "Refreshments". _This_ was what he came for. He had been worried that there wouldn't be any food after all, and his efforts would've been wasted. But thankfully, his worry was unnecessary. Besides the sign, he also saw many students with cups or plates of food in their hands.

Donning a reassured smile, he made his way through the crowd. But by the time he got past the last wall of people, that smile had faded away. A row of tables lined the wall of the warehouse, and empty trays lay scattered across them. A student volunteer was stacking them together and wiping down the tables.

All the food was gone. There was nothing left for Kamijou Touma.

_Ten minutes! Only ten minutes!_ He clutched his hair and cursed his fate.

"**Such misfortune!**"

His outburst attracted the attention of several nearby students. But they neither said nor did anything. Seeing that he presented neither danger nor opportunity, they quickly returned to their previous pursuits.

"Um..." A small voice came from behind him.

It was a girl in a blue and white sailor uniform. She was a bit shorter and younger-looking than himself, probably a middle school student. Her long black hair fell past her shoulders, decorated by a single white flower hairpin above her ear.

For the second time today, Touma found his eyes unconsciously drifting downwards. Though this time for an entirely different reason — there was a full plate of food in her hand, the quantity of which immediately made him jealous.

"Would you like to have mine?" She asked as she offered him the plate.

"Eh?" Touma did a double take.

"Ah, it's fine if you don't want it. I mean it's kind of weird-"

"Wait." Touma raised a hand to stop her from going any further. "Are you saying that I, Kamijou Touma, the unluckiest person alive on this planet, could have that irresistible-looking plate of deliciousness, for free?"

"Um... Yes...?" The girl was a bit confused by his reaction.

"Thank you very much!"

Touma bowed down and received the plate with both of his hands, as if it was a priceless treasure.

"Pfft..." The girl stifled a laugh as she handed it over. "Sorry, but you look kind of ridiculous."

"Well, it _is_ the best thing that's happened to me for the past week." He motioned at the food. "But, is this really alright?"

"Yes, it's fine! I already had some. Besides, if I eat too much I'll get fat." She said while tugging on the hem of her shirt.

Like most boys his age, Touma could never understand why girls worry so much about their weight. If anything, she seemed a bit too thin. But that's a thought for another day. Right now there's a delicious plate of food in front him that simply demands to be devoured.

"Well then, thanks for the food!" Touma dug in.

The plate had a mix of Japanese and Western snack foods: octopus balls, fried fish tofu, onigiris, a crepe, stuffed cherry tomatoes, smoked salmon with some kind of buttery sauce, and for dessert, dangoes, mini-cupcakes, and macaroons. Both the variety and quality was simply astounding.

Because he was so busy stuffing his face, however, the plate more than half gone when he noticed the girl was still watching him with keen interest. It made him feel slightly uncomfortable.

_Maybe I should say something?_ He thought, putting down the food for the moment.

"You know," the girl said, "from the way you're eating, it's almost like you're just here for the food."

"Geh!"

The comment pierced straight through Touma's selfish motives.

"A-haha, did I guess right?" She said with a knowing smile. "But that's okay. I was like that the last time too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. A lot of things happened that day and I didn't have breakfast or lunch. By the time I got here, there were only onigiris left, so I ate 6 onigiris! Can you believe that? Six!" She held up her hands to show him how many she ate.

"Mmhn." Touma replied as he chewed on a piece of raw salmon.

"A lot of people were looking at me like I'm a weirdo, but I didn't care. In the end I ate so much I couldn't even walk, so I ended up staying to listen to the presentation. It's actually pretty interesting you know."

"Is that so?"

"Mmm-hm!" She nodded. "You should stay and see it."

Some noises drew their attention to the stage. Several well-dressed people were making their way up the side.

"That's them!" The girl said. "The one in the middle is the president."

They sat down on the row of chairs that had been prepared beforehand. Touma recognized the girl who handed the flyer to him. She seemed to be an officer in the organization.

The chair in the center was empty. The teenage boy whose seat it belonged to was standing at the microphone stand. He was of average height and a bit on the chubby side, but his black suit and tie gave off an aristocratic air. He waited patiently until he had everyone's attention.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to our weekly meeting. I'm Ayatsu Sei, founder and president of SAFE. But before we start, I'd like to take a moment to thank all those who helped make this meeting possible."

"This is Mitsuto-san of Zipang Delights," he motioned to a young man to his left, who stood up from his chair. "He brought us all of these delectable treats at the refreshments table."

The recognition earned him a round of applause and many loud cheers. Touma joined in as well, though he had some trouble clapping with one hand occupied.

"Next we have Ooya-san of Academic Storage Solutions," a woman on his right stood up at the mention, "she graciously offered us the use of this warehouse we're currently in."

Another round of applause and cheers, though this time with slightly less enthusiasm. The food was hard to beat after all.

"Thank you both very much." He bowed once to each of them before turning back to the audience. "And now onto our main topic for tonight."

"As many of you might know, something very strange happened last week. First, many people all across the city fainted for no apparent reason. Then in District 7, witnesses saw laser beams shooting into the sky and a huge crater in the middle of the road. Outside the city, an even bigger crater appeared on a hill, but nobody heard the explosion or knew how it got there. And finally, three members of Academy City's General Board of Directors were found dead in their own homes.

Naturally, the series of events spawned a lot of speculation. Some say a toxic chemical storage tank had exploded. Some say it's an experimental AIM device that went haywire. Yet another said it was an alien invasion. And of course, who could forget the conspiracy theorists? They blamed it on the government, who deliberately made this happen so that they can distract us from... Well," Sei shrugged, "whatever it is they're trying to distract us from."

The comment solicited a few chuckles from the crowd.

"But you know what's the most interesting explanation I've heard so far?" He asked. "It's the explanation given by the city officials. They say the Catholic Church sent an esper to destroy Academy City. Some of you might have seen her on the news."

Behind Sei, an image of the woman was projected onto the wall. She wore what appeared to be a long yellow cloak with a hood and a patterned headband. She had piercings all over her face and a chain hanging from her tongue. Touma recognized her as Vento the Front.

"Now, I've never been a member of any religious organization, but that woman's appearance isn't exactly screaming 'I'm devout!'"

The audience laughed.

"Besides, does the Church even have an esper program? The Power Curriculum is something only Academy City can offer thanks to its amazing technology. Not even advanced nations like the United States have anything resembling it. The Church, of course, is even further behind.

Now you might ask, what about those directors who were found dead in their homes? Somebody must've killed them, right? Well, the directors all live in high-security residences with multiple AIM inhibitors, which means espers can't use their powers anywhere near them. Not to mention the constant Anti-Skill patrols in the area. It's ridiculous to think a single esper could've done anything.

Then there's the idea that the Church would send just one person. Think about it. If you were trying to destroying Academy City, would you send just one lone soldier? The Church has a billion followers all over the world, and all they could find was this one crazy-looking woman?

Really, there are so many things wrong with what they say that there's only one conclusion I can think of."

"They are lying."

It was a matter-of-fact statement, said without any malice. To Touma's surprise, the crowd was silent, as if they were urging him to go on.

"For whatever reason, the city officials don't want us to know the truth. Perhaps it was actually in-fighting between the directors over the control of the city. Or perhaps they just needed an excuse to make war on the Church. Or maybe there really was an invasion, but they are afraid everyone would leave if they knew how serious the situation was.

Whatever it may be, their decisions are putting our lives at risk. As students, we can't vote. We can't fire the directors. We can't stop the oncoming clash with the Church that they seem to want. But we _can_ decide whether to stay in the city or to leave. We don't need them to decide that for us too.

We are smart enough to make our own decisions. So if they want us to support their war, then at the very least, they should give us the truth."

"That's right!" Someone in the audience yelled. "To hell with war!"

"Give us the truth!"

The outbursts were followed by the thundering noise of cheers and applause. Ayatsu Sei let it go on for a moment before continuing.

"And so, without further ado, I hereby announce SAFE's participation in the peace rally this Saturday. We students might not have any power, but at least we have our voice. I hope that together with your support, we can make ourselves heard."

"Thank you."

Ayatsu bowed as he finished his speech, and applause followed him to his seat.

"And now a few announcements from your chief operating officer Nakemae Hazumi!" A girl walked up to the microphone and said in a crisp and clear voice. She was the one who handed Touma the flyer. "First off, our tutoring service is doing great, with yet another 40 signups since last week. While we had a ton of people join, we're still looking for more tutors, so if you're smart and want to earn some cash, come talk to us! Next we have..."

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

After the announcements came the breakout sessions for the various SAFE activities. Students who were interested gathered around each session's respective areas. The remaining students stood by and socialized over the free drinks. Since neither Touma nor his new acquaintance cared about the activities, they decided to head home early.

On the way out, they finally thought to introduce themselves. The girl's name was Saten Ruiko, a student at Sakugawa Middle School.

"So what do you think?" She asked Touma as they walked out of the warehouse in to the cool night.

"The presentation?" Touma scratched his face with a finger. "It was interesting. But I think they have some facts wrong."

"Eeeh? Really?"

"The crazy-looking person was actually-" He suddenly stopped himself.

There's no way he can explain it without exposing the existence of magic. Like that guy Ayatsu said, what kind of esper power could defeat the AIM jammers around the directors' residences? It will have to be magic, or a piece of technology so advanced that it can only come from Academy City itself.

"Kamijou-kun?" Ruiko waved her hand in front of him.

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about something. Say... what if I told you there was another way to get esper powers?" Touma asked. "What if someone found a way outside of the Power Curriculum?"

"A second esper program?"

_Well, actually it's a completely different system. But..._

"I guess you can say that." He nodded. "It's based on a slightly different principle, so you can master it even if you couldn't become an esper."

"Really?" Ruiko turned to him with a serious look. "How do I get in?"

"Eh?" Touma was caught off guard by her enthusiasm. "I was just talking hypothetically. You know, what if..."

"Darn it." She sighed in disappointment.

"Were you hoping it was real?"

"Of course! Which level 0 wouldn't want another chance? If you had powers, you could have anything you'd ever want. Have you seen what they're feeding the level 4 and 5's?!"

"You know, for my own sanity, I'd rather not know." Touma said with a grimace.

"Haha. To be honest, I felt a bit jealous when they told me. 'It's so unfair! Why don't I have any powers?' I thought. But now that I know them better, I don't feel that way anymore. They didn't care at all whether I had powers or not."

"Sounds like you have good friends. Mine just mooches off of me and gets me into pointless fights. But somehow we're still friends."

"That's kind of amazing in its own way..."

"So you're a level 0?" Touma asked, changing the topic.

"Yep. No AIM reaction at all. If they had negative levels I would probably qualify for those too." Ruiko struck a pose. "Saten Ruiko! Level minus three!"

"Ha." Touma chuckled.

"What about you?"

"Me? I'm a level 0 too." Touma paused for a second. "But I guess I'm not entirely powerless."

"Eh? Wouldn't that make you at least a level 1?"

"No." Touma stretched out his hand in front of him. "My right hand can nullify esper power. For example, if someone shot a bolt of lightning at me using their power over electricity, I can block it with my right hand. The moment I touch it, the lightning will disappear."

"No way! Even another level 0 has more power than me?" Ruiko pouted. "You're making me feel jealous again."

"Don't be jealous of me. When they run the tests on me during the System Scan, they never get any results back. So they have to classify me as a level 0. Not only that, my hand also nullifies my luck. So I always get the short end of the stick."

_Now that I think about it, I don't usually tell that to people I just met._ He glanced at the girl walking next to him. It was a bit unsettling how they became so familiar so quickly. But maybe that's not a bad thing.

"But... Don't you think that's still better than not having any powers at all?" Ruiko thoughtfully put a finger against her chin.

"Not really. Yesterday, the police mistook me for a molester on the train and kept me at the police station until someone else caught the real one. This morning, I lost my phone and spent an hour looking for it. Turns out it was in my room the whole time. Then just before the meeting, I missed the bus by 15 seconds and spent an hour getting here."

"Uua. That sucks."

"Actually, if it wasn't for you, I'd still be hungry." Touma turned to her with a more sincere tone. "Thank you for that, I really mean it."

"Don't mention it." Ruiko waved it off.

A moment of awkward silence passed between them. They had already walked several blocks from the warehouse. The street was empty save for the two of them, walking side-by-side, like a couple out for a late night stroll...

"Did you-" "Where-"

They both tried to talk at the same time.

"Ah... Haha..." Ruiko let out a weak laugh.

"Go ahead," said Touma.

"It's nothing important. Anyways, where are you going now?"

"Back to my dorm. I'm taking line 46."

"Really? I'm taking that line too! I get off at the 3rd stop and transfer to line 11. It's actually close enough to walk to."

"Yeah. If I remember right, the bus stop should be right around here."

His words wouldn't have been more timely. As they reached the street corner, the bus stop came into view. It stood on the opposite side of the cross street, and a white electric bus was already waiting there.

"Hey, isn't that-" Ruiko started.

"It's line 46!" Touma took off towards the bus, waving his arms in the air. "Ooooyyy! Over here!" He shouted. "Please hold on a minute!"

The bus, however, drove away like it never even saw him, leaving him dumbfounded in the middle of the street.

_What in the world was that? There's no way they didn't see me!_

"Jeez, you run fast." Ruiko said as she caught up with him. "That was an automated bus by the way. There's no driver on board."

"Eh?" Touma looked at the bus driving away in the distance, then at Ruiko, then at the bus again. "Eeeeeeh?"

"Um... Kamijou-kun?"

"Such misfortune!"

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

It turned out the next bus was in an hour, so they decided to walk instead. They found many things to talk about on the way, from the stuff they did at school, to the music and games they liked, to their dreams for the future. They were at an intersection a few blocks from Touma's dorm when Ruiko stopped.

"My dorm is this way," she pointed to the right.

Time sure goes by quick when you're having an interesting conversation. Part of him wants to keep chatting with her. Maybe he should offer to walk her home? But then she might find it creepy.

"I see." He replied in a neutral tone.

"Well, it was nice talking to you. Maybe we should leave our numbers? You know, just in case we-"

Suddenly, Touma felt a chill run down his spine. Instinct told him there was something staring at them. Something dangerous. He whipped around and faced the street.

It was empty.

For just a second, he felt silly at his own over-reaction. But then he saw it — a dark form hidden in the shadow of a tree. Its bell-shaped outline was visible thanks to the lit building behind it, but distortions lined the boundary layer, as if its mere existence was having some unnatural effect on the world.

_Is this... Angra Mainyu?_

Then, without warning, it slid towards them. Touma's heart jumped up to his throat. He opened his mouth to scream, only to have no sound come out. Instead, he heard a loud "Kyaaaa!" from behind his back.

_Saten-san is still here!_

This is no time to be scared. There's someone he needs to protect! Touma balled his fists and crouched down into a fighting pose. Whatever the supernatural creature was, so long as he has the Imagine Breaker, there's a chance!

But when the thing stepped into the light, and he realized to his horror that it could not have been defeated with his right hand. Not only that, even escape was impossible. That's because it wasn't any kind of evil spirit. It was Index, his freeloading roommate, looking more angry than he had ever seen.

"In...dex?"

"Touma!" She yelled from the middle of the street.

"You know this girl?" Ruiko asked from behind his back.

"Y-yeah."

Touma's mind barely registered the question. Rather, it was already sent racing by the ominous cloud surrounding Index. He had forgotten something important...

_But what is it?_

Knowing her, it was probably food-related. _I left dinner out on the table, so it can't be that... Unless she lost her key? But then she can get the spare from Maika next door... No that doesn't make sense. What else could it be? Think Touma! Think!_

But time was not on his side. Index had finished crossing the street. The danger was now a mere two feet away.

"Touma." She said in a terrifyingly calm voice.

"Y-yes?"

"Where were you?"

"M-me? I was at this event. It was an organization called SAFE. They had great food and there was a presentation and they talked about-"

"And you didn't invite me?"

"Well- Yes! I mean- No! I mean, you weren't home! If you were there I would've brought you along, I swear!"

"Oh ho?" She crossed her arms. "And where did you think I was?"

"Err..."

This is a trick question! If he didn't know, then he's guilty of forgetting something really important. But on the other hand, if he knew, then leaving her out would've been intentional. Either way, he could only dig himself into a deeper hole.

"You... were out?"

"Yes, I was out." She replied rather calmly. "But what was I doing?"

"You were looking for... Uh..." A murderous flash in her eyes told him it was the wrong answer. "Things to eat?"

"I was waiting!" She yelled. "I was waiting for you!"

"Waiting for-"

"You promised we would go eat at _La Petit Mélodie_ tonight. I waited outside their door for 2 hours!"

"I did?!" Touma could not recall when he made that promise.

"Yes you did!" She was so worked up that her face was turning red. "Last Sunday!"

* * *

It was the weekend at the Kamijou residence. Touma had finally gotten his stipend for the month. After paying off his debts, discounting the various living expenses for next month, and handing Index her allowance, he had just 8000 yen left to spend however he wants.

Having gone without any entertainment for more than a month, he couldn't resist buying the latest issue of _Kendo Horizon_ at the convenience store. If he was to consider the amount of fun per yen spent, light novels were amongst the best. A mere 500 yen gets him a full day of entertainment. Of course, a video game could be even better, but he didn't have a computer or console to play them on.

One of these days he'll convince Stiyl that Index's living expenses should come out of _his_ pocket.

"Touma."

"What is it, Index?" He replied without looking up. The story was just getting to the good part.

"Touma, we should eat out."

"Ehh?" He glanced at her out of annoyance. They really don't have much money to waste on food.

Index was holding up a small red booklet. She flipped it over to showed him pictures of restaurants inside.

"You spent your money on a restaurants guide?"

"Of course!" She said, proudly puffing out her chest. "No self-respecting food critic can go without a copy!"

"Huh..." He wanted to chastise her for wasting money on something so useless, but it was her allowance after all.

And as for eating out...

_On second thought, we have been living off of rice and instant ramen for a few weeks now._

"It's fine if it's under 1000 yen per person."

"2000 yen." She said without missing a beat.

_Is she haggling now?!_

"1010 yen," he fired back.

"1700."

"1015 yen and that's final."

"Muuuu... Stingy!" She pouted.

"Oh alright. We can go over if you want to spend your allowance to cover it."

"Really?" The change in her mood was instantaneous. "Then let's go eat dinner on Tuesday!" She said happily, pointing at one of the listings in the book. To Touma's uncultured eyes, it looked dangerously fancy. But they had settled on who pays, so there was little for him to worry about.

"Sure sure." Touma waved it off and returned to his book.

* * *

"Don't tell me, it was that restaurant?!" Touma asked, incredulous.

"What other one is there?"

"I couldn't even read the words in that book, how would I know where to go?"

"Well if you actually cared you would've asked! I bet you even forgot your promise to go."

Touma was speechless. Yes, he did forget, but it wasn't much of a promise in the first place. Moreover, she didn't mention it at all in the two days since. Of course he forgot!

"Um... I think I should get going now." Ruiko said from behind him.

"Ah?" In the heat of the argument, he had forgotten about her.

"Who is that girl?" Index demanded. "And why were you walking home with her?"

"Saten-san and I met at the SAFE meeting earlier, and we just happened to be going the same way."

"Oh I see, just happened to be going the same way." Index did not sound convinced at all.

"Yeah. And she gave me the leftover food from the event. I didn't even have to ask for it."

"And then you two had a nice, long chat on your way home?"

"Um... Yes."

"So let me get this straight. You went to this event that I've never heard about, where you met a girl you didn't know. But she gave you a bunch of food and all of a sudden you two are best friends."

"We're not really-"

"Meanwhile, I stood outside the restaurant looking like an idiot, waiting for you. I waited so long that the waitress inside offered me coffee out of pity. And look!" She pulled out her cell phone. "I called you so many times even my phone's battery died! But you didn't answer even once!"

"That's because-"

"And then I went back home to look for you, only to find an empty room. So I asked Maiko, but she hadn't seen you either. I even went to your school! I was so worried that something happened to you, but you were having so much fun flirting with this- this **SLUT**!" She pointed rudely at Ruiko, who was still standing behind him.

"She's just a nice girl!" Touma was used to getting abused by her, but hearing her insult someone she didn't even know made him angry.

"As if! What kind of nice girl gives food to a complete stranger, then offer to walk them home? This late at night?"

"First of all, it's not late. And second, she's just open-minded. There's nothing wrong with giving people free food or walking home with them."

"Open-minded? Is that a new way of saying she seduces boys she just met?"

"Um, I'm still here you know..." Ruiko spoke up rather meekly. But she was promptly ignored.

"No! I told you we're just going the same way."

"Going the same way for now! Who knows what'll happen in an hour? You two could be making out at a love hotel for all I know!"

"She- We're not like that!" Touma yelled in exasperation. Index wasn't listening to him at all. "Besides, why do you care? There's nothing special going on between you and me. Even if I said I was dating her, you have no right to stop us!"

His words must have struck a nerve, because Index suddenly became quiet. He saw tears welling up in her eyes. They glistened like pearls under the white streetlight.

"Hey now..."

Touma instantly felt conflicted. Did he go too far? Index was being unreasonable, trying to control his life and taking it out on someone she didn't even know. He was right to be angry. But then... a long time ago, she did say she liked him. While he can't reciprocate her feelings, he still shouldn't have been so blunt.

Without another word, Index turned and ran away.

"I should go too," Ruiko said.

She also turned around and left, leaving Touma alone on the street corner.

He wanted to chase after Index, to tell her he was sorry, that everything will be okay.

_And then what? Bring her back home, just so she can watch you fall in love with another girl? The Kamijou Touma that loved her back is gone, and he's never coming back._

With heavy footsteps, he began the long journey back to his dorm.

"Such misfortune."

* * *

**Author's Corner**

**Agnese:** So... Does this mean it's Touma x Ruiko now?  
**Author:** Don't you mean Touma x Misfortune?  
**Agnese:** Huh? What do you mean?  
**Author:** Think about it. Who's always on his mind? Who never, ever leaves his side? Whose name does he constantly call, even in his sleep?  
**Agnese:** ... I don't even know how to respond to that.  
**Kuroko:** Ok people, let's put the ape aside and consider Kuroko x Mikoto.  
**Stiyl:** Why? We should talk about Stiyl x Index.  
**Misaka 10032:** Accelerator x Misaka 20001, suggests Misaka from the sidelines.  
**Agnese:** Why are you rooting for your sister?  
**Mikoto:** Forget that, Touma should obviously end up with-  
**Index:** Me of course!  
**Agnese:** You just broke up with him! If anyone should have-  
**Kaori:** In my opinion, Itsuwa is a way better ma-  
**Mikoto:** No, I'm-  
**Author:** Everyone be quiet! Or do I have to make this Accelerator x Kuroko?  
**Kuroko:** Ew. Get that creep away from me.  
**Accelerator:** Watch it, pipsqueak.  
**Agnese:** Well, at least its not something ridiculous like Touma x cake. Um... Author? Why are you smiling?  
**Author:** N-nothing. I swear I didn't just have a brilliant idea.  
**Everyone:** ...


	7. Descent into Politics (Part 2)

**Chapter 7: Descent into Politics (Part 2)**

* * *

Another night, another band of misfits trying to take on Academy City's Number One. Or at least, that's what he would have said a month ago. These days, it's rare to see any cocky low-lifes around. Maybe they finally learned after so many painful lessons, or maybe it was his victory over their leader, Komaba Ritoku, that finally hammered it home.

However, this area hadn't gotten any less dangerous for the average person. Gang fights are more common than ever, and nobody would bat an eye if a bystander got hurt. Even before the City's funds were redirected to the war effort, this sector was low on the list of priorities. Now the administration had essentially relinquished control over it, leaving Skill-Out to do whatever they wanted.

At least those scums had taken to avoiding him as much as possible. It's actually rather amusing to see how quickly their petty fights get derailed by his casually walking by.

All the buildings had long been abandoned by their rightful tenants and repurposed to become the gangs' hideouts. The streets were littered with piles of trash that had been left there since the collection company stopped coming by. The outdated sodium-vapor street lights flickered on and off, intermittently bathing the street in an orange light. Overhead, he could hear the whirring noise of an Anti-Skill helicopter patrolling its perimeter, a token reminder that this sector still technically belongs to the city.

The street was empty save for a lone figure off in the distance. That person was coming towards him rather quickly.

The monochromatic lights had dyed everything in shades of orange, making it hard to see. It seemed to be a girl. She was at least a head shorter than him, wearing what appeared to be a long dress. It would have been falling apart at the seams if it weren't for... _Are those safety pins?_

He'd met this girl before, first in a certain underground mall, then again when he faced off against Kihara Amata. She saved Last Order!

_What's she doing here?_ he thought.

The girl appeared to be in distress. She had lost her headdress and her hair was a wild mess. Her habit, which should've been white all over had a huge dark patch on its side — probably because she fell somewhere. She also had a pained expression that all but confirmed it.

"Hey," he said.

The girl, however, didn't hear him and kept on running.

"Hey!" he tried again.

It wasn't until she was just a few feet away that Accelerator realized he had made a silly assumption. Like any other normal person, he had assumed the girl was running towards him for help. He assumed that she had seen him, that she had recognized him, or at least heard him calling out to her. But really, he had just assumed that at some point, she was going to _stop running_.

_Wait! If you keep coming at me..._

He made a last-ditch effort to throw himself out of her way. But with his crippled body, he only managed to get a foot off the ground.

"Oof!"

The impact threw him backwards onto the hard concrete sidewalk and the girl plopped down unceremoniously on top of him.

"Look where you're going!" he yelled, shoving her away.

"Sorry," she replied in a tiny voice.

Now that he could see her up close, he could tell she had been crying. He had wanted to say something to her earlier, but now he couldn't quite remember what it was. Instead, he watched incredulously as she got up, ran six steps, tripped over a piece of loose concrete, then fell to the ground again.

"Are you trying to be funny?" he said it out loud without actually intending to.

The words seems to have destroyed what little willpower she had left. Seeing she wasn't about to get up again any time soon, Accelerator sighed and made his way over. Knowing the area, it was probably some scum that tried to take advantage of her. He still owe her for saving the brat, and beating them up would make for some good entertainment.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

Still lying face down on the ground, the nun mumbled something. But it was too quiet for him to hear.

"I said, what happened?" he said, nudging her with his foot.

"Nothing," she said.

"Hah? You think I'm an idiot?" His voice rose in irritation. Then he caught himself. He shouldn't be so intimidating to someone he's trying to help. "Look, if some scumbag tried to hurt you, tell me who they are and I'll go beat them to within an inch of their life."

She shook her head. Though with her head still on the ground, it was more like rolling her head.

Accelerator clicked his tongue. _Coming here at this time of the day, what is she thinking?_ She was certainly on the weird side of the spectrum, but she didn't seem to be insane.

"Are you hungry then? I'll buy you WcDonalds."

"I don't want any."

He almost expected to hear that cliched stomach grumbling to come and expose what she was really thinking. But she wasn't hungry this time.

"Oy- Don't tell me those scums really did do something to you," he said.

"Touma... didn't do anything to me. It's... my fault. I..." she trailed off.

"I see. So he hurt you and then convinced you it was your fault?" In the back of his mind, he was already coming up all sorts of creative ways to make this "Touma" person pay for what he did.

"No! That's not it."

"What?" he raised an eyebrow, "then who is it?"

"Nobody did anything!"

"Then... why?"

"It's complicated. I just..." she trailed off again.

He waited patiently for her to explain everything, but she only laid there. After a minute or so, it became apparent that she was waiting for him to go away. Really, if it were anyone else, he'd have happily obliged.

Accelerator sighed again in frustration.

"Look, you saved me last time. Well, more importantly, you saved that brat. I don't know what would've happened to her if you weren't there. She's... How should I say this?" he said as he scratched the back of his head. Expressing gratitude was still something he was coming to terms with. He had always considered it one of those useless things that only the weak did. "Anyways, what I'm trying to say is..."

Sniff.

The girl sat up and began to cry.

_Gah! So annoying._

If only he could hand her over to someone else to deal with. He's good at killing people... and threatening to kill them. It's not the most useful skill when faced with a crying girl.

_If only..._

Wait. He does know someone who could help — a certain high school's P.E. teacher. And since she works with students all day... _I'll bet she's good at this. Yes..._ he played with the idea in his head. _That could work._

"Hey, Index right?"

"..."

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

His shout stopped her crying. She slowly turned her tear and snot-covered face towards him. In a rather pitiful attempt to clean herself up, she tried wiping it off with her sleeve. But that had only made an even bigger mess. A thin strand of the gooey liquid now hung between her nose and her sleeve, swaying lightly in the breeze.

Accelerator sighed again.

"You don't have anywhere to go, right? Then you should come with me."

She stared at him blankly.

_This is going nowhere fast,_ he thought. Giving up on talking to her, he reached down and grabbed her arm — the clean one, or at least he hoped it was — and pulled her up.

"We're going to my place. You can take a shower there."

With his cane in one hand and Index in his other, he headed towards his guardian's apartment.

* * *

Not too far from them was another pair of teenagers. Ayatsu Sei and Nakemae Hazumi were walking down a different street on their way back from the SAFE meeting. Normally they would've arrived at home by now, but tonight they had to take a detour. They were still dressed rather formally: Hazumi was in a black skirt suit and high heels, which had made her as tall as her companion, and Sei hadn't even taken off his tie. He also carried a suitcase in his hand, and every once in a while, his eyes would drift to it and dwell there for a moment.

"Ayatsu-san."

"Yes Hazumi?" He answered.

"Your speech was great, I was really moved by it."

"That's good," he said flatly.

There was a pause.

"Hey, you're not..." She glanced at the suitcase. "You're not going through with the plan to publish that, are you?"

"I am."

"Why?" Hazumi was clearly unhappy with his decision. She stopped walking and spun him around to face her. "It will be dangerous."

"That doesn't matter. I have to tell them," he said looking away from her. "They have a right to know." There was a slight shiver in his voice, as if he wasn't so sure himself.

"Then leak it to the internet! Nobody will know who's behind it all... You don't have to do this."

"I have to," he said while shaking his head, "there's no other way."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do!" He yelled.

Hazumi stepped back in surprise. It took a second for Sei to recover from his outburst.

"Sorry," he said. Then he took a deep breath and began to explain. "What I mean to say is, leaking it on the internet isn't going to work. The City will just explain it away as a rumor. There's hundreds of rumors and urban legends like this, some of which might actually be true. But if you ask ordinary people on the streets, nobody believes any of it, and they certainly wouldn't do anything about it. If we want the City's directors to put an end to this blatant discrimination, we have to get the students' support. And to do that we need show them the proof. Besides, I can't let Satoshi down after he worked so hard to get it for us."

"But they'll come after you. I know it," she said. "For something like this, not even your father can keep you safe."

"I know," he said.

Hazumi looked at him, but this time he didn't shy away. There was fear and doubt in his eyes, but Ayatsu Sei was not the kind of person who would give up just because he was afraid.

Hazumi sighed and began walking away. "Let's go home. We can talk about this tomorrow. But don't think I've given up on stopping you. I will do it even if I have to tie you down myself."

"Ah- of course," he said, following after her, "I wouldn't expect any less out of my famously stubborn chief operating officer. Though I have to warn you, I don't look very good in leather, and my bedroom walls are rather thin."

"What?"

A good twenty seconds passed before Hazumi finally realized what he meant. When she did, she blushed. "I'm being serious here! You'd have a hundred girls chasing after you if you quit being so perverted. And you have the worst timing too!"

"Ha... And your locker would be filled to the brim with letters from your admirers if you weren't so uptight all the time."

"I'm not uptight! And who said I'm not getting heaps of love letters right now? I _was_ voted one of the top three beauties-"

Sei suddenly put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her.

"Speaking of your admirers," he said, pointing to several figures ahead of them. "I think there's some of them right now."

She looked up to see a bunch of rough-looking youths armed with baseball bats and knives approaching. The smirks on their faces told them exactly what the pair can expect from the encounter.

"Actually, I think these are yours," she said dryly.

The group of delinquents stopped when they got within 15 feet of them.

"Ayatsu. You sure have guts to show your face around here," the one in the center said. He looked like the leader of the group.

"Skill-Out, I presume?" Sei said as he stepped forward to face him. The odds were two to six, and they were armed. But if he was afraid of them, he certainly did not let it show.

"We gave you our money for safe keeping. It's about time you gave it back. Or would you rather have it beaten out of you?"

Sei scoffed. "You mean Komaba Ritoku gave me his money for safe keeping. And he specifically told me not to hand it off to anyone else."

"You son of a- You know he's dead." The leader pointed his baseball bat at him.

"Then I guess nobody gets the money," Sei replied with a shrug, "it's not like you guys know what to do with it... besides losing it that is. What was it, 26 million yen in one day thanks to your 'secret' distributed cache? And if I recall correctly, it was _you_ who kept that list locations on an unsecured laptop, allowing it to be stolen."

"Why you-" He was livid. Blood rushed to his face and veins were popping out of his neck. "**Get him!**"

The group charged at Sei and Hazumi. The leader forged ahead, his bat raised, ready to strike. But just as he was about to reach him, his foot tripped on something. Instinctively, he threw his hands out to save himself, but it was completely counterproductive — his momentum was carrying him straight towards his opponent.

Sei easily caught the bat with his right hand, then spun to the side and delivered his left elbow to the leader's face, who fell to the ground clutching it in pain.

Commandeering the bat and tossing his suitcase aside, Sei parried the next two attackers. One also had a bat, while the other wielded a much-heavier crow bar. A third one standing further behind them had a short knife and he was hesitating to join in the fight. The knife was more deadly, but it had a very limited reach.

The one with the crowbar was the easier target. After sidestepping one of his attacks, Sei gave him a swift kick. The hard sole of his dress shoe dug into his opponent's gut and the guy collapsed to the ground. This left only two of Sei's opponents standing. Unfortunately, having seen their comrades fall, they became far more cautious in staying out of Sei's reach.

As he traded blows with the remaining two, he glanced over towards Hazumi. She was fighting another knife-wielding person. He saw two delinquents running towards her earlier, so the other one must've been taken out already.

Level 3 gravity manipulation: the ability to modify the strength of the Earth's gravitational field. Hazumi could adjust it to any value between 1/10th and 4 times the normal. The affected volume was only about a foot in diameter — enough to hold down someone's foot. That was how she had tripped the leader from a distance. Like all esper powers, however, it takes significant mental concentration to perform. In other words, time to think — something that's hard to come by in a fight.

As the son of a rather wealthy man, Sei's had martial arts lessons ever since he was six years old. Though he never got very far in any of the tournaments, he still outclassed these delinquents. Hazumi, on the other hand, was from an average family. A rather conservative one at that. They didn't think girls should be fighting at all.

The delinquent kept throwing himself at her, and she dodged him, again and again. Then during the time in between his attacks, she messed with the gravity around him. It threw him off a little — a step would fall short, a stab would go too high — his limbs would seem to have a mind of their own. From an outsider's perspective, it looked like she was fighting a drunken monkey. But since he was completely untrained, and thus had neither "stance" nor "form" to begin with, it merely forced him to make more corrections than usual. She also had no weapon on her, which made Sei wonder how she took down the other guy. One particular slash caught Hazumi a bit too close, cutting open the side of her suit jacket.

_Not good._

With one final swing at his own opponents, Sei dropped his fight and rushed over to her. Targeting the exposed back of his enemy, he swung the bat with full force. The delinquent had somehow sensed his coming and ducked out of the way at the last minute. As he spun around to face this new threat, however, Sei swung again, forcing him to jump back. The distraction was all Hazumi needed. She clasped both of her hands together into a fist and slammed it into the back of his neck. Then as he fell, she activated her ability, forcing his head into the sidewalk with supernatural force.

Sei turned around just in time to see his own opponent in mid-swing. Far too late to dodge out of the way, he raised his left arm to parry the incoming baseball bat. His mind barely registered the bone-crushing force being directed away when he saw a knife heading straight for him. Letting go of the bat in his right hand, he grabbed the knife-wielder's wrist with all the strength he could muster and stopped the thrust. He felt the tip of the knife cutting past his shirt and barely breaking his skin.

Taking advantage of his opponent's temporary immobility, he pushed the knife down and away from himself and kicked the guy in the stomach with his right foot, and then again when the guy didn't let go. The second kick did the trick. His opponent knelt down and rolled over, letting the knife fall to the ground.

Meanwhile, Hazumi had found a bat from somewhere and was facing off against the bat-wielding delinquent. Picking up his own weapon as well, Sei readied himself for the next round.

Of the 5 people they had dispatched, two had gotten back up. It was the leader and the guy with a crowbar. The leader pulled out a switchblade to replace his lost bat. It's now 3 versus 2. With Hazumi's gravity manipulation and Sei's training on their side, it's hard to say who would win. But they never got the chance to find out, because the delinquents all suddenly had a look of horror.

"You'll pay for this Ayatsu!" Their leader yelled. "Nobody messes with Skill-Out."

Then they all fled the scene.

Turning around, Sei saw two white figures approaching. A rush of adrenaline came over him when he recognized the taller boy.

"Accelerator-san," he addressed him as politely and calmly as he could. "Thank you for driving them away."

The white-haired level 5 scowled, as if Sei had insulted him. But he didn't do anything and walked past them.

When they were out of earshot, Sei let out the breath he had been holding and went over to his partner. His arm was really hurting now.

"What happened to your shoes?" Sei asked, looking over the bare-foot but otherwise uninjured girl.

"What about your arm?"

"The bat glanced off at an angle," he replied. There's no point making her worry. "It'll be sore for a few days, but it's nothing major."

"Are you sure?" she said.

"I'm fine, though I'll have a pretty scary-looking bruise for a while." He held up his arm and made some movements with it. "See? Perfectly fi- Ow!"

It seems he had misjudged the extent of his injury. Hazumi, however, giggled.

"That's what you get for running to help me when your own fight's not even over. Really, I don't know anyone else who'd try something so ridiculous. And just so you know, I had that guy under control."

Sei merely smiled back. Even if she had been in trouble, she would still be too proud to admit it.

"As for my shoes..." She trailed off as she walked over to one of the downed delinquents. "Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be hit by a high heel shoe at 150 miles per hour?"

"...I'd rather not know."

* * *

"You're back?" Yomikawa Aiho asked in a surprised tone.

Truth be told, Accelerator hadn't shown up here at all for the past 3 days. After last week's events and Last Order being hospitalized, it felt weird to keep coming back here. The apartment he had from before still belonged to him, so he had been wandering back and forth between there and the hospital.

"Accelerator... Who is this girl?"

The P.E. teacher had discovered Index, and she didn't look too happy.

_How should I explain this?_ He thought.

"She's-"

"And she's a mess!" Without waiting for his answer, Aiho pulled Index out from behind him. She looked over the girl with concern. "Let's get you in the bath right this instant."

Accelerator watched wordlessly as she pulled the nun into the bathroom. He was about to look away when her head suddenly popped out again.

"You have some explaining to do," she said. "And you need a bath too."

"I don't need one."

"Yes you do, you've been out for three days," she said in a tone that left no room for argument. "Oh and we bought some cookies. You must be hungry right? They're on the counter, so help yourself."

"Tch," Accelerator clicked his tongue.

This is why he couldn't stand this place. _What's the point of worrying about these little things?_ Everything here was too comfortable, too safe. He felt like he was drowning in syrup.

_No... Not even that. It's a facade of safety. This place won't protect anyone if Academy City decided we weren't worth keeping around._

Another voice interrupted his thoughts.

"You're not thinking of going out again, are you?"

It was Yoshikawa Kikyou coming out of her bedroom in her pajamas. The two of them had a bit of history going back. Though now she was just his other guardian.

"What's it to you?"

"I won't stop you, of course," she shrugged, "but it's not like you can't be here without Last Order. It's your home too."

_Home? You've got to be kidding me._

A long time ago, long before he came to Academy City, and long before he joined the Special Ability Institute, he probably had a home and a family. Well, to be honest, he wasn't sure he had them, since he couldn't remember anything from those days. Maybe he was an orphan...

Actually, it would be better that way. He doesn't want parents that left him in that hellish pit for so many years, and nobody would want a son with the blood of over a hundred people on his hands. And that's not even counting the clones.

But still... wasn't he trying to change all of that?

"I think I'll wait for my batteries to recharge," he said, reaching for his choker.

Kikyou smiled at him and went back into her room.

* * *

It was late afternoon the next day, and three girls had congregated at a dessert shop in a relatively fashionable part of District 7. They often meet here after school to catch up and exchange some friendly gossip. Today, however, the atmosphere felt a bit strained.

"What's wrong Saten-san?" Kazari asked. "You look like you lost a bet."

"No... it's nothing like that." She sighed.

Truth be told, the events of last night were still fresh on her mind. She didn't really think she did anything wrong, but somehow it still felt like she had failed. She wish she could just ignore it and pretend it never happened. It's not like she knew that boy.

_Ahhh, it's still bothering me!_ She put her head against the table and groaned.

"Um... Saten-san?"

_I should just tell them what happened,_ she thought.

"Say, Uiharu?" She asked her friend.

"Yes?"

"What do you do when you try to do something good, but it comes back and bites you?"

"Something good?" Kazari touched her chin with a finger.

"Like helping someone out, but they made it seem like you actually hurt them instead."

"Oh that?" Kuroko piped up. "It happens all the time with Judgment. There's thugs who'll try to hurt you just because you wear the armband, there's thankless people who don't even spare you a second glance even though you just saved their life, and there's those who got hurt and blame everything on you, even though you were just there to help."

"Oh, I see what you mean," said Kazari. She put a finger to her chin. "I always feel a little sad when those things happen, but I'll try to forget and move on. You can't stop doing good things just because one person didn't appreciate it. Can you imagine what would happen if everyone did that?"

"Yeah, that'd be pretty terrible." Ruiko nodded.

"Exactly. So just ignore them and move on," Kuroko added.

"I see."

Though she said that, it didn't seem like she was going to forget anytime soon. But at least it's reassuring to know her friends had the same problem.

"Thanks, that made me feel much better," she said with a somewhat forced smile.

"No problem!" Her flower-headed friend replied.

"So..." said Kuroko, "are you going to tell us what this is about?"

Kazari nodded, indicating her interest as well.

"Uh, well..." Ruiko hesitated. _Of course they'd want to know all the juicy details... But I don't think I'm ready to tell them just yet._

Thinking quickly, she found herself a new topic to distract them with.

"It's nothing really. By the way, Uiharu," she said, "what ever happened to your one-sided crush on that hacker?"

"Eh?! I don't have a crush on him!" Kazari denied vehemently. "I mean, we don't even know if it's a boy or girl yet!"

_Distraction successful!_ Ruiko gleefully noted that her friend had turned several shades redder. _Even though it makes me feel just a little bit evil, it looks like I'll be using this one for a long time to come._

"How rude," Kuroko interjected. "What's wrong with a girl liking another girl?"

"That's not what I mean! And besides," she stood up and pointed at Kuroko, "you're the one spreading the word about me liking this hacker. I'm just curious and that's all there is to it!"

"Right," Kuroko rolled her eyes and half-heartedly pushed the hand away.

"So... did you learn anything new about him?" Ruiko asked.

"No, not really," she said as she sat back down. "They made a new team from security experts from all over the city just to investigate him. But I don't think they found anything yet. And if I were to guess, it'll take at least a few months to gather all the evidence."

"That long? How come they didn't ask you then?" Kuroko asked. "You're really good aren't you?"

"I don't think they'll want a middle school student touching their systems. Especially since I don't have clearance yet."

"Ah. Well, it's their loss."

"Yeah. Catching someone like that takes a lot of work, especially since he's so good at erasing his tracks. It's like you're chasing a ghost in a haunted house."

"Ah! Speaking of ghosts," Ruiko suddenly spoke up, "did you hear about what's going on in Hokkaido?"

"No."

"It's snowing there?" Kuroko said.

Ruiko gave the teleporter a look.

"It would be news if it didn't snow in Hokkaido. I'm talking about the disappearances."

"Oh?" Kuroko raised an eyebrow.

"8 people in just 3 days from the same town, all disappeared without a trace! Some were heading home from work, some were out shopping, and others were at home."

"A serial kidnapper?" Kazari asked.

"That's what they thought at first. But one woman was seen just minutes before she disappeared. She was shopping for groceries with her neighbor and they drove home together. When the neighbor walked into her house and began putting the grocery away, she discovered that they had mixed up one of the bags. So she rushed over to exchange it. But even though it's been less than 2 minutes, she couldn't find her! Her shoes were still there at the front door, a pot of water was heating up on the stove, not even warm yet, and her car was still in the driveway.

So the neighbor called the police. They searched the house once more, set up checkpoints on all the roads leading out of town, and then asked the other neighbors for clues. Since this happened several times already, everyone was on the lookout for suspicious people. But nobody saw any cars coming in and out besides hers."

"So they think it's a ghost?" Kuroko asked in disbelief.

"Well, it could be a ghost, or an evil spirit-"

Kuroko sighed. "There you go again, believing in supernatural stuff even though you live in the city of science."

"Then how do you explain it? She couldn't have walked out of the town on foot!"

"Well," said Kuroko after thinking for a moment, "if it happened in Academy City, you can explain it with esper powers."

"Esper powers... like teleportation?" Ruiko asked.

Kuroko nodded. Then she noticed the other two girls staring at her.

"I see." "So that's what it was."

"Uh... Wait a minute... You two don't seriously think I had something to do with it?!"

Ruiko and Kazari looked at each other, then at Kuroko, and then burst out giggling.

"Ahem..."

The three looked up to see a very tall man standing at the head of the table. He was dressed in a black suit and wore dark sunglasses that hid his eyes from view.

"My apologies for the interruption," he said politely, "which one of you is Uiharu Kazari-san?"

"That's me," she said after a second of hesitation.

"Then this letter is for you," he said, handing over a sealed envelope.

Kazari took the envelope and looked it over. It had neither a destination nor an origin. In fact, it had nothing written on the outside.

"Were you expecting a letter?" Kuroko asked. "And delivered in person no less?"

Kazari shook her head. She was curious as to what this was about, and reached for the seal with a finger.

"Oh and one very important thing," the man said, "please keep its contents to yourself."

"Ah..." She looked up in confusion. "What's this ab-"

"Have a nice rest of the day." The man turned around and left.

"Y-you too..."

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

"NEWT."

Kazari voiced the acronym out loud. NEWT Electronic Warfare Task-force. It's the newly formed team of security experts she told her friends about.

_And they want me on the team._

Kazari sighed. She looked over the piece of paper again and set it aside. They were offering a lot money for her help: 500,000 yen per week, enough to cover a whole year of her tuition in just a month. Her overworked parents would be overjoyed at the prospect. On the other hand, accepting it means she will have to put Judgment work on hold.

She really wanted to talk it out with Ruiko. Or anyone really. But both the man and the letter itself had made it clear — This is highly confidential.

She sighed again.

_Why am I hesitating anyways? Because he looked so dead-serious? These guys were appointed by the City, of course they'd be serious. And as for the Judgment office, I'm sure I can still volunteer my time there if push comes to shove._

Kazari held up the letter again and flipped it over. On the back side was the address of a secure IRC channel and the key to access it.

"Well, it couldn't hurt to check it out," she said to herself. _And besides, if I'm really lucky, I might even meet __**him**__._

Unbeknownst to her, her earlier frown had turned to a smile.

* * *

Agnese was standing alone, surrounded on all sides by a swirling maelstrom of runes. They were flowing like streams of water. Colliding, melding together, then coming apart. Her eyes followed them, from one to the next, but she couldn't identify them. They were just blurs of incomprehensibleness, moving in and out of her field of view. The harder she tried to see, the less clear they became. Meanwhile, voices echoed in her ear, deep and resonant. They spoke of things unknown. Terrifying things, yet also alluring. They beckoned her to go to them, to let herself be carried away by their voices.

And then came that overbearing vertigo, that sense of imbalance she felt on the shores of that tiny Brazilian island, pressing against her skull like a vise. Harder and harder. She tried to move away, but her limbs wouldn't listen. So the pressure continued to build, more and more and more, until she couldn't take it any more.

With a gasp, she opened her eyes to see the blank ceiling of her small room, dimly lit by the moonlight reflecting off of the ground — it was another peaceful night at the Necessarius Women's Dormitory.

And it was the second time she's had this exact same dream.

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

Two days ago, Agnese Sanctis had returned from her mission in Brazil with her life and her priceless artifact intact. She completed all of her objectives with time and money to spare. Her injuries had been magically healed as well. So by all means, it should be considered a success. Of course, there was that one major mishap from which she had barely escaped alive.

A casual observer might blame the strange dreams on that near-death experience she had — it was a battle in which she nearly lost her life. Agnese, however, didn't think so. For one, life and death battles were common occurrences for her. So common in fact, that she'd already lost count on how many times she'd almost died. And two, dreams that involved fighting usually end up with her waking up on the floor with a bump on her head. Well, there was that one time she had a crying Angelene pinned to the ground underneath her. Coincidentally, that was also the day they decided she could have her own room.

In any case, the dream probably had something to do with the weird runes she saw in the cave. She had given Sherry and Orsola drawings of all the runes Stiyl and she could remember. But neither of them had seen these strange symbols before, and asked for time to search their library.

That was yesterday morning.

She's now standing in front of the door to their workshop, which for no apparent reason had been named "Nessie", complete with a sign on the door stating this important fact. She knocked twice.

"Come in," said Sherry's voice from within.

Opening the door, she walked into a room full of books and artifacts. Behind one particularly messy desk was the blonde Necessarius researcher, who was still absorbed in her reading.

"Is the Archbishop still out?" Sherry asked without looking up. "I need to talk to her about our library's acquisition fund."

"Yes, Kanzaki said she'll be back in two days at most," Agnese replied. She had been looking for her as well, but leader of The Church of England had left for Russia discuss a very important matter. So her own debriefing will have to wait.

"Any luck with the runes from the cave?"

"Nothing major yet," said Sherry, finally taking her eyes off of her book. "Despite their apparent similarity to the alphabet used by the early Germanic tribes, they are completely different, and as such are nigh incomprehensible. I did, however, find a reference here." She pointed at another book open on her desk and motioned at Agnese to walked over to see.

"This is an 18th century compilation of proto-Germanic texts. Some of the symbols you drew appears in this one passage." Sherry pointed out the symbol in the book and one of the symbols Agnese had drawn. "You'll notice there's a number of differences between them. This one," Sherry pointed to the one she drew, "is a wide rectangle with two dots inside. In the book, however, the two dots have been elongated into small vertical bars and attached to the top of the enclosing rectangle."

"Are you sure they're the same then?"

"Positive," she answered confidently, "because if you look here, these two symbols also appear in the passage. The first appears with an extra diatric, and the second is only slightly distorted. If I were to guess, what is recorded in the book is a more mature variant of the same script."

"It's Chinese I tell you!"

Agnese jumped at the sudden voice to her right. It was Orsola Aquinas pulling herself up into a sitting position, rubbing her still half-closed eyes. She had apparently fallen asleep behind several stacks of books.

"It's Chinese. The rectangle with the two bars is the symbol for 'four', and that other one is the symbol for 'horse'."

"We went over this already. If I were to read this sentence, that is, assuming all the weird non-Chinese-looking symbols were just bad copying on the part of the compiler, it would still read 'Knife strength horse self super is four.'"

"That 'knife' could also be read as 'seven' if you turn it around."

"Fine. Seven strength horse self super is four," Sherry said exasperatedly. "Look, we can go back and forth all day about which symbol is which Chinese character. If you squint hard enough, you can turn this into any sentence. But we still don't know what's the original meaning because there's just too much room for interpretation."

"Then what do you suppose we do? We only have a dozen of these symbols."

"Yes, indeed, " Sherry acquiesced. "The lack of material prevents us from using any modern statistical analysis."

"So you're saying we need more of this text?" Agnese piped up.

"Yes, either that or some hint about who the author was."

"Well, if you want more text," Agnese thought back to the cave, "there's at least ten thousand characters carved into the cave walls and ceiling, and probably several thousand more in the room at the end."

"Did you say ten thousand?" Sherry had a look of disbelief.

"Yeah, at least that much. I'm not sure if it repeats or not, but they completely covered over a hundred feet of the cave."

"And it was for just one spell?"

"Probably," Agnese said, recalling the grim scene in the cave. "The casters sacrificed themselves. All six of them. I don't think they planned to use the place for any other spells."

Sherry and Orsola exchanged a look between them.

"That sounds very serious," said Orsola. "Six willing sacrifices and an entire passageway full of runes... I can't even imagine what they were trying to do. You should go find the Archbishop right away."

Agnese was a bit taken back. Of course it was serious. She knew that since the sudden wave of dizziness first came upon her. But she had been putting it off. Partly because the one person who needs to be told, the Archbishop, was busy elsewhere, and partly because she had plenty of day-to-day work to do. Also, it had happened half way across the world, and Stiyl didn't seem too worried either.

"I agree," Sherry said, breaking her chain of thought. "And if possible, I'd have Index take a look at this too. I don't recall this script appearing in any of the books she had memorized, but she can probably cross reference the pattern much better than we can."

"U-understood."

Taking with her a copy of the symbol's drawings and the unreadable passage, Agnese thanked them and left the room with a new sense of urgency.

* * *

**Author's Corner**

**Touma:** Okay, today's topic is... Time!  
**Mikoto:** As in, how long it took to finish this chapter?  
**Author:** *Ignores her* You see, _A Certain Magical Index_ was first published in 2004, which means the events of the story takes place in 2004. Now it's 2015.  
**Touma:** That's more than 10 years ago!  
**Author:** Exactly.  
**Touma:** That's actually very shocking.  
**Author:** That's right! But it's actually even more shocking if you remember that Academy City was only supposed to be 15 years ahead of the rest of the world in technology.  
**Mikoto:** So we're only 5 years away from having espers?  
**Author:** Yes! And more importantly, *points to Mikoto* it means you're actually 24 years old!  
**Mikoto:** *Shock*  
**Author:** Touma, are you curious as to what a 24-year-old Misaka-san is like?  
**Touma:** Like her mother maybe?  
**Mikoto:** No! I don't want to be like that irresponsible woman.  
**Author:** I think more like her dorm supervisor?  
**Mikoto:** Nooo! That's even worse! She doesn't even have a boyfriend.  
**Touma:** Yeah, but I can see that happening given her tsundere personality.  
**Mikoto:** Tsun-  
**Author:** At 24 though? Being a tsundere at that age...  
**Touma:** Maybe she still likes Gekota too.  
**Author:** That would be hilarious.  
**Mikoto:** Tsundere... *Bzzt*  
**Author:** Uh-oh... Ummm... Hey! At least you'll have a decent figure, right?  
**Mikoto:** *Bzzzzt*  
**Author:** Uh, wait, I'm the author you know.  
**Mikoto:** *BZZZZZZZZT*


	8. Descent into Cyberspace

**Announcer:** Last time, on Dragonba-

**Author:** Ahem...

**Announcer:** I mean, last time on Descent:

Index, alone and on the verge of despair, finds an unexpected savior in Academy City's Number One; Ayatsu Sei fights a Skill-Out gang to protect his funding source; Uiharu Kazari joins the city's newest counter-hacker team to chase down the one who can match her in skill; and Agnese Sanctis flies East in search of an answer to a troubling mystery from Brazil.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Descent into Cyberspace**

* * *

There's a certain hotel in Moscow whose primary purpose was to receive the heads of states and other, similarly important persons. No expense had been spared in its construction, and as a result, it was beyond lavish. Whether it was guests or amenities, only the very the best had been allowed inside. It had the best service, the best decor, the best catered food. Even the do not disturb sign was worth more than a common Russian's life savings. Of course, the sign was also of little use, because the maids would never disturb these important guests at an inopportune time. Which leads one to wonder — how did they know when to enter and perform their duties? The maids themselves would not answer, but if one were to ask the old man by the entrance, he would wink at the old KGB building across the street.

Here, sitting in the most luxurious room of this most luxurious hotel was Laura Stuart. She was in a meeting with Agnese, who had flown here on urgent business. Paranoia being part of her nature, she had magically sealed the room to prevent any eavesdroppers from listening in. The extra precaution meant she could perform her day-to-day work as the Archbishop without having to find a more secluded place.

"Thank you, Agnese," said the Archbishop. "I will ask Academy City to let you in. Keep in mind they are a bit skittish right now thanks to all the war propaganda."

"Understood. I'll wear my casual clothes," the red-haired girl said before turning around and leaving.

The Archbishop watched her close the door behind her. The meeting had been short and to the point. Her subordinate had seen something rather disturbing in Brazil and wanted to hear what Index has to say. The way she described it piqued Laura's curiosity, and if the matter had came at a better time, she would've certainly involved herself in its investigation. Now however, she was wholly occupied by the matters of the coming war, so delegating everything to Agnese was her only option.

She took out a tablet computer from her handbag. It was given to her by Aleister Crowley, and despite having used it many times already, she was still impressed by the rather plain-looking gadget. It's ability to transmit sight and sound instantly, half way across the world, all without the use of magic, was simply incredible... and a bit scary. For the longest time, even something as simple as telecommunication had been the exclusive domain of magicians. But that was no longer the case. As much as she'd hate to admit, the science side had finally caught up.

With a tap of her finger, she initiated a video call with her scientific counterpart. An upside down portait of Aleister Crowley appeared. Her immediate reaction was to right him by flipping the tablet around, but it didn't work. The device seemed rather insistent on showing him this way, because when she flipped it around, the entire contents of the screen flipped around too, leaving Aleister in the exact same orientation.

"Laura, how are you?" Aleister said in a crisp voice that was neither masculine nor feminine.

"Rather poorly," Laura replied, cupping her face with one hand. "It's all thanks to this war we're about to be embroiled in. If only a certain someone could stop poking the Catholics with a stick."

"Surely you don't blame me for this?"

"Ah, what can I say? It's the war conference," Laura sighed. "You'd think with all the machismo Russians like to show, they could at least make up their minds on whether to join the war. I only had 6 hours of sleep last night because of it and it's doing terrible things to my appearance. One way or another, I have to blame someone."

"Oh, but I didn't call for the conference. I'm not even supposed know about it. Though I do appreciate your sharing this with me."

"Then consider it a gift from me," she said. Knowing Aleister, he would've found out one way or another. In fact, he probably knew already. But there was some benefit to keeping up appearances. "In exchange, perhaps you could do me a small favor?"

"Of course," he said, "I'm all ears."

* * *

"Are you sure you wanted me to hear that?" asked Tsuchimikado Motoharu as the call ended.

He was in a room containing a large glass tank filled entirely with an orange-colored liquid. Suspended within it was Academy City's General Superintendent's human half. The rest, the cybernetic half that is, was embedded in the walls of the Windowless Building. The man usually discusses matters over the phone, but he chose to meet Motoharu in person this time.

"A trivial matter," the voice of Aliester Crowley answered. "I do have another task for you. Tell me, have you heard of the disturbance to the North?"

"Hokkaido? It was on the news recently, 17 people..." he stopped abruptly when he realized something.

"Could it be... Catholics?"

"Perhaps."

"You don't sound too worried, perhaps you already know their trump card?"

"No." Aliester's voice sounded rather amused. "But you see, there is something fundamentally different between merely planning, and planning for every possibility. For the former, you must know your opponent: the cards they were dealt and what they would do with them. Your plans hinge on their actions. If they were to do the unexpected, you can lose. But for the latter, you need to know nothing, because no matter what happens, you had already planned for it. There's no path to failure that you couldn't foresee and prevent."

"And you did this?" asked Motoharu incredulously. "For every possibility?"

"Every possibility that matters."

"I see, so that's how far you're ahead of them."

Motoharu glanced at the mass of pipes and machines that connected Aliester to the building. That he could accomplish such a feat was all thanks to this. Rumors have it that it multiplied his intelligence more than a hundred fold.

"But even so, knowing more can't hurt," he added with a grin.

The comment seemed to have no effect on the General Superintendent, but Motoharu had been around him long enough to know that he had acknowledged it. Or perhaps Aliester had already planned for him to say that, and actually hearing it was nothing more than a formality.

"A room has been prepared for you in Sapporo. Report back once you know the source of the disturbance."

"Understood."

* * *

Uiharu Kazari was staring intensely at her laptop screen so intensely that one might wonder if she was trying to burn a hole through it with her eyes.

Reality is, of course, much less exciting. After meeting her new team over IRC and getting access to the secure systems, she had spent all of her free time over the past two days pouring over everything the mysterious hacker had touched. And she had arrived at one conclusion: he had done an impeccable job.

Really, for the investigation to get even this far was a brilliant stroke of luck. The highly secure systems kept records on everything. So to avoid leaving a trail behind, the hacker erased those records after he was done. But he had missed one place — server #182 had suffered a power failure during his break-in. It shutdown just seconds before he would have erased the data on it. That had made its records inaccessible until a tech came along several days later and replaced the power supply — long after the hacker had left.

The investigation that followed ultimately led nowhere. Everyone came to the same conclusions. They knew how he had gotten in, how he accessed the data, and how he tried to erase his tracks. But the most important question still remained unanswered: _Who was he?_

That question had been at the forefront of Kazari's mind since she joined, and she had been engrossed in the search for an answer. Some might even say she was obsessed.

It was already 2:00 AM early Friday morning, which meant that she had been looking at this for almost 11 hours straight.

_This is unhealthy,_ she thought.

She leaned back and stretched. As she did so, she noticed the empty cardboard box sitting on the desk, which at one point contained eight delicious jelly-filled doughnuts.

_Yep. Definitely unhealthy._

She threw the box away and undressed for a quick shower. At least she's not bothering anyone by staying up late. Her roommate, Haruue Erii, had moved out a month ago.

She stepped into the stream of water and let the heat wash over her. Although it's been a long day, it hadn't been entirely fruitless. She had discovered a small program hidden on one of the compromised systems, stashed away in a normally unused sector of the hard drive, inaccessible through the normal file system. It was probably something the attacker left behind, a signature of some kind... and it was a bit of an enigma.

When she ran it, the program displayed a riddle, which read:

_I come in many shapes, forms and sizes,  
and naturally, I have many surprises._

_Powerful are those who wield me,  
but most choose only to fear me,_

_Light is my name,  
but dark is my game._

_Speak of me and I will appear.  
Oops... Too late, I'm already here._

Since she couldn't make heads or tails of the riddle, she tried disassebling the program. Besides the portion that contained this text, there was also a random piece of data attached to it. If she were to guess, it was probably encrypted data, with the key being the answer to the riddle.

So she replayed it in her mind. Something amorphous, surprising, wieldable, fearsome, and both light and dark. Various materials came to mind, but none of them seem all that surprising or fearsome.

_Light is my name._

She'd already tried "light" in various languages and forms. In fact, she had tried all answers under 8 characters in length, and none of them worked.

_Maybe there's something else called light? The hacker's alias or something?_

Or maybe all of this was a diversion, meant to throw off his investigators and leave him more time to get away. Although, considering how nobody on the team had even discovered it until now, he had severely overestimated his opponents.

Kazari wasn't convinced it was a distraction. The riddle was an original. It didn't show up anywhere on the internet or in any of the library materials she'd searched. So he must've put some effort into writing it. Why go through all of that trouble if he didn't want anyone to solve it?

She was rinsing off the shampoo in her hair when suddenly, the answer came to her.

"Trifecta!" she yelled in excitement.

Then she realized it was still the middle of the night, and that she had yelled the wrong word.

"I mean, eureka..."

She quickly shut off the water, wrapped herself in a towel and ran back to her computer. It took only a few moments to hook up the decoder with the new password.

"...and execute!"

8193 18528 3512 34211 2259 1319 15374 370

A row of text appeared on her screen. For an instant, she was triumphant. The password worked! It actually worked!

But then she realized something.

_Why?_

This was the decoded result. It was the only result. Unlike codes meant for humans, encrypted data does not have multiple interpretations. This list of numbers was what the hacker wanted to show her.

_Why show me this?_

The answer did not come to her. Instead, a drop of cold water fell on her shoulder, startling her. Her hair was still wet from her shower, and since she didn't dry them off properly, they were giving her the chills. She was also only dressed in a towel.

"Ah- I'm going to catch a cold like this."

She closed her laptop and finished up her bedtime routine. As she laid down underneath her blanket, however, all sorts of thoughts and explanations began popping up in her mind. One after the other. It wasn't until she was utterly exhausted that she was finally able to fall asleep — a good 6 hours later than her usual time.

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

"Uuiiharuu~"

Someone was calling her name.

"Uiharu."

Kazari slowly opened her eyes. It seems she had drifted off to sleep while leaning against her locker.

Hmm, that's strange, why did her thighs feel a bit cold?

"Uiharu! You forgot to put them on!"

"Eh?" She blinked.

Ruiko was lifting her skirt up for all to see.

_Ah, that explains where the breeze is coming from...?!_

"Eeeeh!?" She quickly swatted her friend's hand away. "What are you doing Saten-san?"

"Hehe..." Her friend grinned.

"Jeez, I thought you were over that stupid habit of yours." She patted down her skirt, putting it back the way it's supposed to be.

"Sorry, sorry," she said. "You looked so vulnerable, I couldn't help myself."

"I... don't even know how to respond to that."

"Right?" Ruiko said as her grin grew even wider.

Sometimes her friend was a bit too much.

"Let's just go," she sighed.

They walked along chatting about random things that happened throughout the day. One of their classmates had been confessed to by a boy she didn't particularly like. Another girl's pet had passed away. A popular froyo store closed down for remodelling — apparently too popular for its tiny size. They were topics that would've interested Kazari if only she wasn't so tired.

"So... What do those numbers mean?" Ruiko asked.

"What numbers?"

"The ones you were saying in your sleep. 1319, 370, 2259..."

_Ah those._ She'd been thinking about them ever since she first saw them. "It's just something to do with work," she explained, "I feel like they have some sort of significance to them."

"Oooh, mysterious numbers. Maybe... It's some sort of prophecy!"

"Eh? I don't think so."

"You know, like they're actually the times for a series of very important historical events! Hmm... what happened in 1319?"

The thought of a prophecy coming through an encrypted file made her giggle. "No, I really don't think it's any kind of prediction."

"You don't think so?" Ruiko didn't look so convinced.

"Well, I don't think prophets would use such a roundabout way."

"Ok, how about this... Maybe they're some sort of coded message!"

"Well, that's more likely. But why a bunch of numbers?"

"It's like that legend of the unliving girl," Ruiko said knowingly.

"Just what kind of urban legends have you been reading again?"

"Well, more like a ghost that just wonders about. Apparently she has fans now! They say she leaves notes for people who want to see her."

"A ghost has fans?"

"Yeah, a whole fan club with over 100 members. You wouldn't believe how far some people go. Anyways, she leaves notes with 2 numbers on them, and that's where she'll appear next."

"Street numbers?"

"Hehe," Ruiko grinned and shook her finger, "it's actually GPS coordinates!"

Then the numbers she saw... Were those pointing to some location too?

_A location... Or to put it another way, a set of coordinates? To use 8 numbers, it would have to be in the imaginary plane._

Kazari shook her head. That can't be it. Only teleporters could use a location like that, and she was pretty sure none of the high-level teleporters were hackers.

_There's 8 numbers. Why 8? It's 4 plus 4. Two cubed. A lot of things computer-related are powers of two._

And then it hit her.

"It's an address."

"What?" Ruiko had already been distracted by a clothing shop they were walknig past.

"It's an IP address! 8 numbers between 0 and 65535. And it starts with 2001 in base 16!"

Her friend was looking at her as if she was going crazy.

"Sorry Saten-san, I'll call you later!"

With that, she dashed away towards her dorm.

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

"It's an IRC server," said Kazari. She converted the series of numbers to hexadecimal and had gotten an IPv6 address.

The server was in Romania, and if her instincts were right, it was under the control of the hacker from a few months ago. After making sure she couldn't be traced back to her room, she logged in.

sillybird: /join #the_cove  
*** Now talking in #the_cove  
*** Topic for #the_cove: An important place for unimportant people.  
sillybird: hi  
theadvocate: hello there

Much to Kazari's surprise, the reply came immediately. _Had he really been watching this server for several months? It's got to be a coincidence..._

theadvocate: please stop that  
sillybird: what?  
theadvocate: i want to talk to you  
theadvocate: stop trying to take over the server

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Kazari switched over to the terminal window where her penetration suite was running and closed it.

sillybird: sorry  
theadvocate: good  
theadvocate: you won't be able to trace me with that anyways  
theadvocate: it's impossible, even for you  
sillybird: but you don't even know who I am  
theadvocate: really?  
theadvocate: i think you're the one known as the goalkeeper

_How did he..._

theadvocate: am i right?  
sillybird: lol no  
theadvocate: well it doesn't matter  
theadvocate: are you alone?  
sillybird: maybe  
theadvocate: i was hoping you would trust me a bit more  
sillybird: why should i?  
theadvocate: haha good point  
theadvocate: what if i told you i was the one who broke in 3 month ago?  
sillybird: prove it then  
theadvocate: one of the server's key starts with AS49L415

Kazari checked the file that contained all of the information they found. Sure enough, there was a match.

theadvocate: need more?  
sillybird: i see  
sillybird: so let's say i trust you, what do you want to say?  
theadvocate: just my honest opinion  
theadvocate: you are great at what you do, and i respect that  
theadvocate: but you should really think about who you're working for  
sillybird: you mean the city administration?  
theadvocate: go take a look at security reports #307373 and #1302975  
sillybird: why?  
theadvocate: you'll understand when you read them  
theadvocate: they're classified so i wouldn't use any traceable channels  
theadvocate: and get yourself a good air purifier for your room  
theadvocate: i recommend vinix  
theadvocate: leave it on overnight  
*** theadvocate has quit (Connection reset by peer)

_An air purifier? What's that about?_

Kazari checked her passive scanners just in case the hacker had somehow traced her through the IRC connection, but it didn't seem like the case. Maybe her penetration suite was somehow recognizable. It was custom-made by her, sure, but how could he tell it from apart all of the other ones?

As she pondered the question, she restarted it against the IRC server. If she was lucky, he'd have left another hint. Perhaps a new way to get in touch. As for the security reports, even if she wasn't supposed to see them, it couldn't hurt to take a look... right?

* * *

It was 4:00 PM.

After another incredibly long flight, Agnese Sanctis had finally arrived at her destination in Academy City. Despite being severely jet-lagged, she was excited to finally get a chance to meet that spiky-haired boy again. The ride from the airport was smooth and she had no trouble finding his apartment.

She put on her best face and knocked on his door. To her surprise, it opened immediately, revealing Touma and a somewhat messy room. He seemed really excited too, so much so that he didn't even think to put on some pants. But then two things happened. First, he recognized her, and second, his cheerful demeanor vanished like a wisp of smoke.

_He doesn't want to see me._

It was a terrifying thought. The friendly greeting she had practiced many times over during her flight was instantly forgotten, and she stood there looking like a statue. Thankfully, Touma had already recovered from his own surprise.

"Sorry, I'm really busy right now," he said and tried to close the door.

In a panic, Agnese reached out and blocked it.

"Wait!" she said, "I'm Agnese. We met on the Queen of the Adriatic. I'm working for the Church of England now. Do you remember?"

"I remember," he said, "but this really isn't a good time."

"I won't take long, I promise."

Touma sighed, letting her continue.

"I just need to ask Index something. Is she home right now?"

"Index..." Touma muttered. He seemed to be thinking very hard about it. But then suddenly, he slammed the door shut.

"...Eh? Wait, Touma!"

Agnese tried knocking again.

"Hello?" she yelled into the door. "Touma? Mr. Kamijou?"

But despite her many attempts, there was no response.

Soon, she found herself back outside, standing in front of the apartment building.

_Why was Touma acting so strangely?_ she thought. The boy seemed like a completely different person from the one she saw on the Queen of the Adriatic. The energy, that determination... where did it all go? He seemed so tired and gloomy now.

_Well, it's not as if he was always like that. When he first opened the door... maybe it was really my fault?_ Agnese shook her head. _No, I won't accept that explanation. There has to be some other reason._

She paced about the entrance. Some random pedestrians passing by stared at her, though as soon as she lifted her head, they diverted their gaze.

_Maybe I should ask the Archbishop..._

She stopped pacing and pulled out her communication token. But for some reason, it wasn't connecting. There was no reaction at all. It's as if it was a piece of ordinary paper.

The seconds ticked by in silence until...

"Stupid! Magic! Disruption! Field!" Agnese yelled as she realized what was going on.

Apparently, due to the threat of war, the anti-magic field that had once repelled Vento of the Front had been reactivated. Magical items like this communication token simply wouldn't work.

"Damn it!" she cursed and threw the token on the ground. The token, being made of paper, was immediately picked up by the wind. It tumbled along the sidewalk until it hit an updraft and flew out of sight.

_I should go back up there and try again,_ she thought. But something told her it wouldn't work, and she hesitated.

As she was milling about with indecision, she noticed something rather peculiar. There was a girl with light-brown hair, wearing a beige sweater vest and a gray skirt walking along the near side of the street, looking like she was lost. In the few minutes that Agnese had been there, the girl had already passed in front of the building several times. Each time, she would look up at it, as if searching for a sign or some landmark, then quickly walk away as if nothing had happened, only to reappear a few moments later from the same direction.

On the fourth time she did this, Agnese stopped her.

"Are you looking for someone?" she asked.

"Eh? N-no." The girl began to back away.

"Then why were you-"

"No particular reason! I mean, there's nothing wrong with someone walking along a public road, is there?"

"Ah, no. Nothing wrong."

The strange girl was about leave when Agnese stopped her.

"Wait. Since you're here, I might as well ask you... You wouldn't happen to know someone called Index? She's about this tall, has light blue hair and wears a white habit. She should've been coming in and out of this building pretty often."

"Index..." the girl paused. She scratched her head, "that girl who's always clinging to Touma?"

"You know Touma?!"

"Yes. You too?"

"Yeah, he saved my life," replied Agnese.

"Yet another one," the girl facepalmed.

"What do you mean by that?" Agnese asked, giving her a suspicious look. "And just who are you to Touma?"

"Eh? Well..." she said, blushing a little. "I'm a close friend."

"A friend?" Agnese asked in a rather unconvinced tone. She doubted the other girl, if for no other reason than the way she said it.

"Yeah..."

"Then what is his favorite food?"

"Huh? I don't-"

"You don't know? You're his friend, right?" Agnese interrogated. "You should at least know something like that."

"T-that just hasn't come up! Ask me something else."

"Okay, then what does he like to do in his free time?"

"Playing video games?" the brown-haired girl answered uncertainly.

"Uh..."

_Wait a minute, what **does** he do on his free time? I can't tell if she's lying if I don't know the answer myself..._

Her thoughts drifted to Touma's appearance earlier.

"What kind of underwear does he wear?"

"The hell would I know that?!" the girl yelled, turning red in the process. "That's not something a friend should know! I mean, I know Kuroko's only because she's a complete deviant. And Uiharu's..." she trailed off, muttering something to herself.

How strange, seeing someone getting so flustered over a piece of clothing. At least this reaction seems genuine. Maybe she really is a friend.

It was in that moment that Agnese suddenly had an idea. _If I couldn't get through to him, maybe this girl can. Since I don't have any better ideas, I might as well give it a try._

"Okay, I believe you're his friend. Well, I'm his friend too. So by helping me, you're helping him too. Everybody wins." Agnese said.

"Huh?"

"Come on, let's go!" she said, dragging Mikoto towards the building entrance.

"What? W-wait..."

* * *

Mikoto was being pulled along by this weird redheaded girl. Still having no idea what's going on, she struggled a little before finally giving up. It seemed like the girl wanted to go to Touma's room.

_Honestly, what is it with people not telling me what's going on?_ she thought. _And why is she so comfortable talking about lewd stuff like that? Touma's underwear... Why would I know what it looks like?_

An image of Touma, half naked, wearing only his boxers, appeared in her imagination. And for some reason, it looked like he had a lot more muscle than normal.

"Mikoto, how big do you want our family to be?" he says, "three? Four? Or even five?"

_Nooo!_ she tried to banish that thought from her mind. _I want to be in a wholesome relationship! We shouldn't even be holding hands for the first year, and even after that... maybe I'll let him feed me like all those lovely-dovely couples, but that's it! We'll talk, get to know each other, share a smoothie, stare longingly into each others eyes..._

Before she knew it, she was already standing inside Touma's room. The door slammed shut behind her, trapping her inside with an equally surprised boy.

"Eh? What just happened?" she asked nobody in particular.

"Umm... You just came in without knocking," Touma said. He was sitting in front of his table, holding a half-finished bowl of instant noodles.

"I did?"

Touma nodded.

"Why did I do that?"

"I... don't know," he answered honestly.

"..."

She turned around and marched out of his room.

"J-just what were you trying to do?!" she yelled at the redhead.

"Ah, I was going to use you to open the door," she said, "but when I got here, I remembered Japanese people are weird and don't lock their doors, so we can just barge right in. Anyways, did you see Index?"

"What? I didn't even know-"

"She's not inside?"

"The nun?" Mikoto asked. "No, it's just that idiot eating ramen."

The redhead sighed. "Ok, I guess I'll go in with you."

"Would you mind telling me what this is all about?"

"It might be faster if we just ask that 'idiot'."

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"So... you and that girl got into a fight, then she ran away, and you've been searching for her ever since," Mikoto summarized the conversation so far. "Is that right?"

They had all sat down around the table to listen to Touma's story. The red-haired girl, Agnese, was munching on something and Mikoto had her hands folded beneath her chin.

"Yes..." Touma said, bowing his head in resignation.

Apparently, after coming home, Touma immediately regretted letting her go. He ran back to the place he last saw her, but she wasn't there anymore. Knowing she didn't have another place to stay and worried about her well-being, he then spent the next day and half looking all over the city for her, visiting every location they've been together and asking the people there whether they've seen her. It wasn't until he was on the verge of collapse that he came home to rest. The two girls had caught him right before he was about to head out again.

"Without even thinking about it, you decided you were going to fix everything yourself instead of asking someone for help."

"Yes..."

Mikoto sighed.

"That's the one thing I seriously dislike about you. Taking on everything by yourself. There's 2 million people living in this city. 23 districts, 300 square miles. You could've spent months searching without anything to show for it! Who knows what would've happened to her by then?"

Touma looked away without saying anything. Agnese, who had been busy shoveling ice cream and cookies into her mouth, spoke up instead.

"You have to admit though, at least he's loyal."

"A loyal idiot!" Mikoto said. He had once again completely ignored her existence. They only ended up worked together last time because she ran into him at a critical moment.

_Actually, now that I think about it, this time's basically the same._

"I don't disagree. But let's put that aside for now," said Agnese. "The question right now is, how do we find her?"

"That's simple. Just leave it to me," said Mikoto.

"Um, just what exactly do you have on your mind?" Touma asked in a concerned voice.

"My friend works in Judgment. Looking for lost people is part of their job. If she took any roads that have security cameras installed, we can track her down in minutes."

"That's a relief."

"What did you think I was going to do?"

"I don't know, maybe blast down half the city?" Touma laughed weakly.

A sudden wave of anger came over her, manifesting itself as a bright blue electric arc shooting out from her left temple.

"Wait! I was kidding, I swear!"

"Yeah, if you really burn down the house, you'd only prove his point," Agnese added.

"Fine!" she said, crossing her arms, "but if you keep ignoring all my messages like you did the last 6 days... Oh and..." she hesitated, "I want to hear it from you."

"Hear what?" the other two asked in unison.

"You know... Something like 'Mikoto, please help me look for her!'"

"Of course!" said Touma. He bowed as deeply as he could from the other side of the table. "Mikoto-sama, please help me find her. I'm relying on you!"

In truth, she'd much rather hear something like "Mikoto, I don't need that silly nun. As long as I have you by my side..." But when she thought about actually making him say it, her face began to glow.

"And here," Touma added, holding out a 5000 yen note, "for last time."

"Eh... it's fine," she waved it away, "just answer my messages from now on."

With that said, Mikoto took out her phone and stepped outside.

Ring...

"Hello? Misaka-san?"

"Hey Uiharu-san. I was just wondering if you could help me with something."

"Of course!"

"I need to find someone. It's a girl. Nobody's seen her for two days already."

"Oh no. A lost girl? Do you have a picture of her? I can run a facial match against the security footage."

"Yeah, I'll send it over."

"Great. It should only take a few minutes."

"Thanks, Uiharu-san."

"No problem. By the way, I have something to ask you too. Have you heard about the peace rally on Saturday?"

"Yeah, Saten-san told me about it, but I wasn't planning to go."

"About that..."

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"Here," said Mikoto, holding out her phone. On the screen was an address — the last location the silver-haired nun was seen on camera.

Touma stared at it in wonder. It had only been 20 minutes and they've already narrowed the search down to a few street blocks.

"Heheh... What do you think?" she asked, looking very proud of herself.

"Thank you so very much, Mikoto-sama!" Touma turned to the red-haired nun. "Let's go, Agnese."

The two of them dashed out of the door.

"...Eh?"

Mikoto, who did not expect them to leave so suddenly, stepped out of the door after them, but they've already disappeared.

"That idiot," she sighed. It seemed like she'd been left behind again.

She closed the door to Touma's apartment, then took out her phone again. She had cut Kazari short earlier so she could deliver the results of the search, but now...

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"Uiharu-san, are you sure this is the place?" asked Mikoto rather anxiously.

"Yep, that's what the security report said."

It was early afternoon the next day. The two of them were sitting on the balcony of a shopping mall. It was a good place for tired shoppers to sit down, rest, and quench their thirst. It was also a convenient place to see the surrounding area. Sitting at the corner of an intersection, one side of the mall was lined by a wide boulevard, from which cars could access the mall's parking garages. The other side was a pedestrian-only street, about 3 lanes wide. Where the two roads intersect, a bridge allowed both foot and car traffic to flow unimpeded.

It was for that second reason that the two girls chose this location. One of the security reports described a terrorist attack that would occur here today. It just so happens, today was also the day of the peace rally. Over 20,000 students were expected to come marching through as they demand a non-violent end to the looming conflict.

"But I still don't see any Anti-Skill," said Mikoto.

"Me neither," replied Kazari as she continued to scan the streets with her binoculars, "but when I brought it up with them, they said they already knew and had the area covered."

"Well, it doesn't look covered to me. They didn't want any Judgment help?"

"No. They said it was too dangerous for us."

Mikoto gritted her teeth.

_What were they thinking? Telling Uiharu not to interfere, then not bothering to show up themselves!_

She looked on with concern as the front of the protesters finnaly appeared. They marched along, chanting their mantra and waving signs such as "Peace", "NO to WAR!" and "Student lives matter". Those that didn't have custom-made signs carried little white "peace" flags, which had been distributed by the event's organizers. From above, they looked like an avalanche of white flowing over the bridge.

"At least this march is a success," Uiharu quipped.

"Yeah..."

"I guess they could be disguised as protestors."

"The Anti-Skill?"

"Yeah, or maybe they aleady apprehended them."

Mikoto bit her lip. She wasn't quite as hopeful as her friend. She hadn't seen any suspicious activity yet, but that doesn't mean there won't be any.

Minutes passed and the foot traffic had not diminished.

"Uiharu-san, did Saten-san say she was going to be in this?"

"Eh?" Kazari looked up in surprise.

"You told her not to go, right?"

"No... we haven't talked since yesterday afternoon."

Mikoto cursed under her breath.

"I'm calling her!" Kazari said, taking out her phone.

Mikoto leaned over the railing and scanned the crowd for a familiar face. She saw one or two — other students from Tokiwadai she'd seen on campus. Ruiko, however... A quarter of the girls she saw were wearing blue and white sailor uniforms, and of those, a third had long black hair.

_Why did she have to look so normal?_

"That's right here!" Kazari suddenly exclaimed.

As she did so, a puff of smoke appeared from beneath the pedestrian bridge, followed by loud noise. Mikoto felt the floor shake underneath her.

"The bridge!" someone screamed.

The terrorists had done it. Their bomb went off. And if they did it right, the bridge would collapse, taking with it the lives of all those people. As if in slow motion, a large crack formed across one end of the bridge. Then more dust billowed out from underneath, followed by another loud bang. A second bomb had went off, taking with it the supports on the other end.

With nothing holding it up, the bridge began to fall.

A light hop carried Mikoto over the sixth-story railings and towards the protesters below. Inducing a current in the building's metal pipes, she shot herself towards the road like a bullet, slowing down just a few feet short of hitting the asphalt and landing safely on the road beneath the bridge.

The bridge had already fallen a third of the way down, and it was gathering momentum. The people who had been standing on top of it seemed like they were floating above the pavement. Everything fell at the same speed, giving it a strangely tranquil feel. The danger, however, was still there. When the bridge hits the ground, they would smash into it as hard as if they had fallen out of a 3rd-story window.

Running into the space beneath, Mikoto reached out with her mind and searched for structural steel buried within. A three-dimensional lattice appeared, rectangular in shape, and covering the entire volume of the bridge.

_200 pounds per cubic foot of concrete and steel. The bridge is 150 feet long, 100 feet wide and 4 feet tall, which makes for... 5000 tons?_

"Argh! Forget it!"

She tossed the calculations aside and just threw everything she had at it. She formed one enormous loop of electricity within the steel lattice, then another loop around herself. As Academy City's strongest electromaster unleashed her power, blue-white light, as bright as the sun, lit up the underside of the bridge. Opposing magnetic fields clashed against each other, repelling each other, and pushing up against the bridge, slowing it down.

As it did so, however, she felt the currents weakening. The weight of the bridge was draining power from them as quickly as she could replenish it.

_More!_

She poured more power into them, and the bridge slowed even more. But it still wasn't enough. Despite her efforts, it was still falling. And it was already two-thirds of the way to the ground.

"Come on!"

She gave it all she's got. Every inch of her body was straining against the massive piece of steel and concrete. Finally, bridge had stopped falling, but it had left her trapped. She couldn't move from the spot without letting go, and if she did, it would crush her instantly. But she couldn't continue to hold it up forever either.

Suddenly, she felt the burden lighten. Not too far away, a boy was crouching with both his hands outstretched. He was another electromaster, level 4 probably. His power was small compared to hers, but nonetheless gave her some breathing room. Then, just a few seconds later, she felt another helping hand, this time from a place she couldn't see. Together, they had just enough power.

With the bridge under control, she slowly backed herself out from underneath. The boy formed a loop around himself and stepped in closer to support it from the other side. Working together, they lowered it bit by bit.

After what seemed like an eternity, the bridge finally landed on the road below, touching down as gently as a feather.

Mikoto glanced around at the carnage. Both of the bridge's pillars had be blown out, and their remnants littered the road. The dust was beginning to clear too, and she could see that the injuries sustained by those on the bridge were relatively minor.

As she walked towards the other electromaster to thank him for his help, she saw a deep groove gouged out of the asphalt. A thick black line, long and straight. It seemed out of place amongst the chaotic rubble. Following it's course, she could see it coming out of from underneath the bridge, continue straight for another 40 feet or so, then make a turn into an alley. She'd seen this before, no doubt about it.

It was the result of explosive tape.

"Frenda?!"

* * *

**Author's Corner**

**Author:** Announcement time! The first person who answers to the riddle wins 3 internets!  
**Mikoto:** What's an internet?  
**Kuroko:** Onee-sama is so behind times. The Internet is a tool for communication betwe-  
**Mikoto:** You know what I mean!  
**Kuroko:** Maybe you should win it and see for yourself... or maybe you should just settle for second place.  
**Mikoto:** What's the prize for second place?  
**Kuroko:** It's me of of course!  
**Author:** It's cake actually.  
**Mikoto:** You and your cake...  
**Author:** Well, what can I say? Life is meaningless without cake.


End file.
